


Storytime

by PiggyInTheMiddle



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Crushes, Flirting, Fluff, It's Okay, M/M, Mostly just Tooth-Rotting Fluff though, Original Character Deaths (past), Parent AU, Teasing, Victor doesn't know how to parent, Victor talks to inanimate objects, also maybe a little bit of angst later on, he's learning, kid yuri, lots and lots of fluff, there will be lots of children's books
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-22 21:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9626954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiggyInTheMiddle/pseuds/PiggyInTheMiddle
Summary: "Who’s the lucky guy?”“Yuuri!”, Victor exclaimed immediately.“Victor, I know you really love your nephew but this is not okay. It’s called paedophilia and you should get help.”“No! God, not that Yuri! Not my nephew, I meant the Yuuri who owns Yutopia, a children’s bookstore I discovered!”“Oh.”[note: Story is now beta-d by2yuukikuran. Chapter 1-6 are undergoing some (minor) changes.]





	1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

**Author's Note:**

> The absolutely wonderful [2yuukikuran](http://archiveofourown.org/users/2yuukikuran/pseuds/2yuukikuran) is now beta-ing this story and doing a heck of a good job. Seriously, I'm indefinitely grateful, especially since English is not my native tongue and I could use the extra help. They have helped me with brainstorming for some parts of the plot as well, and been helping me to find solutions to a few problems I encountered while writing. 
> 
> Any mistakes, typo's, awkward phrasings, etc. are entirely my own. 
> 
>  
> 
> Chapters 1-4 are now beta-d, and I'm working on improving the others.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri is a handful.
> 
> Victor needs some kind of magic spell to end his torture.

Victor was tired.

Unfortunately, Yuri was not.

It was impossible, really. The four-year-old’s days were filled with tantrums, running, screaming and hissing at  a very confused Makkachin.

How a child this young could have this much energy was beyond him, and yet here he was: forcing a smile through clenched teeth with a petulant child staring up at him. he had tried to carry, sweet-talk, bribe and even beg his little blond nephew into bed. Alas, The only result of his efforts was more screaming and crying. Honestly, Victor felt like crying himself.

He didn’t, of course. Never show weakness in front of a child, especially one like Yuri.

Victor began to suspect the kid had secretly found his secret sugar stash and was on a constant sugar high, or that he took powernaps when his uncle wasn’t looking. Perhaps he had even worked out how to handle Bessie and coax her into making him coffee.

Victor doubted his beloved coffee machine would ever betray him like that, though. Besides, Yuri had a sweet tooth and would never stomach something as bitter as coffee. Probably.

Yuri might have looked quite innocent and very much adorable to any other, standing there in his cat onesie and clutching a tiger plush in his tiny fist. “You and I know better, don’t we, Saber?”, Victor communicated silently with the plush toy. It looked at him with glazed eyes, its limp body tired of being thrown around all day.

“Yuri”, Victor said, crouching in front of the boy. “It’s time for bed now.”

“No”, the boy said, glaring.

“Yes”, Victor said, his forced smile starting to hurt his cheeks. Carefully, as if approaching a spooked animal, he extended his arms to lift Yuri and carry him to bed. Yuri would have none of it. He ducked and slipped beneath Victor’s arms, evading him once again.

Victor sighed.

He didn’t have time for this game. He had deadlines and  a tight schedule and a boss who yelled at him too much. He never had time for this game.He was neither prepared, nor qualified, really, to take on the job as a parent.

Then again, he never expected to get it in the first place. He swallowed.

“Fine. You can go watch the television for another ten minutes. And  _then_  you’ll go to bed quietly, won’t you?” Yuri didn’t answer. Instead, he settled into the couch and continued watching his cartoons until he fell asleep an hour later.

Very,  _very_  carefully his uncle carried him to his bed and tucked him in. He glanced at the time and was shocked to see it was 11 p.m. already. The boy should have gone to bed hours ago. Yuri was drowning between the leopard print sheets, thumb in his mouth and Saber clutched against his chest. He finally look peaceful. Victor tucked a stray blond hair behind the boy’s ear and smiled, with genuine affection this time.

It was not that he didn’t love Yuri, because he did, very much so, it was simply that he was a lot to handle sometimes. This was especially true after he had become a single parent - one with a fulltime job and little to no preparation for taking care of a four-year-old.

It had been months since he took Yuri in, and Victor still did not feel fully in control of his new situation. Rather, the situation -Yuri- controlled  _him._

He planted a quick kiss on the top of his head and tiptoed out of the room, silently closing the door behind him. Yuri’s toys were scattered all over floor and he nearly tripped over a dinosaur while walking to the kitchen.

“I’m getting too old for this”, mumbled the 28-year-old as he danced around, simultaneously trying not to step on a Lego and picking up Yuri’s toys to throw them into his toy box. “You could help too, you know”, he chided Makkachin. She snored in reply. Victor unclipped the cat ears little Yuri had stuck on her head, and shuffled to the coffee machine in his kitchen.

He patted the machine. “It’s just you and me now, eh, Bessie?” Victor switched her on and the display lit up.

 “Hello”, Bessie greeted. “Please select your drink”.

“A double espresso would be lovely, dear”, Victor replied, pressing the appropriate button.

“Please wait while your drink is being prepared.”

“My,  Bessie, making me wait on such a draining day?” Victor dramatically placed a hand over his heart. “You must hold a grudge against me!”

“Your drink is ready. Enjoy!”

“Ah, I can’t stay mad at you. Ever sorry for being impatient today! Have a good night’s rest, I’ll need you early in the morning”, Victor said, winking at the display and switching off the machine.

He might be going slightly insane. Hehe decided to blame this on the lack of reasonable conversation partners during the day. Yuri and Makkachin could hardly be called reasonable, after all. Luckily, he’ll go to work tomorrow. He would not lack sense there. 

Speaking of work, he really needed to get some done, as he hadn’t been productive all day. Yakov would have his head. Armed with his double espresso, he settled back in his chair and prepared for a long night.

-

 “Victor, your make-up looks great today!”, Mila greeted as Victor took a seat beside her in his customary chair in front of the camera.

Victor beamed at his fellow anchor, surprised at her compliment.

“It almost hides the ginormous bags under your eye.” His face fell. He should have known, really.

The man pouted, “Is it that bad?”

“No worse than all the other times you pulled an all-nighter and came to work like a zombie. Yuri again?”

Victor groaned and dropped his head on the table. Mila winced in sympathy.

“You’re going to wrinkle your suit.”

“He’s impossible, Mila. I tried everything. I nearly begged on my knees. My knees! Victor Nikiforov does not beg on his knees. He graciously requests a favour with a wink and a charming smile and gets what he wants because he is Victor Nikiforov. Why doesn’t Yuri understand this? He just refuses to sleep! And I can’t even leave the room for two seconds to get some work done because he will eat his Lego bricks or assault Makka or jump off the couch in an attempt to fly. I’m running on fumes here, Mila, what do I do?” ,he whined, dragging out the final _do._

Mila just patted his back. She charitably did not mention the fact that he had referred to himself in third person. Twice.

But before she could say some comforting words, the cameraman caught their attention and started counting down.  

“And we’re live in 10…9…8”

Victor shot up in his seat, simultaneously adjusting his silver hair. He then plastered a very big, charming yet slightly fake smile on his face  just as the the red light on the camera lit up to indicate they were on air. Victor switched to autopilot, relying on the studio’s autocue to get him through the tiresome broadcast.

Thankfully, his pain was short-lived. He dropped his head back on the table in relief, blowing a silver lock out of his face.

“Say, Victor, have you tried reading him a bedtime story? Storybooks were my best friends in my teenage babysitting years”, his red-haired colleague suggested.

Victor quirked an eyebrow. “Is that actually a thing? I thought it was just something that happened in fiction: parents tell their kids a story and they fall asleep right after. Seems too good to be true. Besides, Yuri wouldn’t sit still that long to let me talk, let alone read an entire book _._ ”

“Well it doesn’t work with _all_ children, that’s true”, Mila conceded, “but you’d be surprised at which kids it _does_ work on. It sure as hell is worth a shot.”

Victor tapped his chin in thought and hummed. “I suppose I can try.” He doubted that his sister or brother-in-law had ever used a bedtime story to put the rambunctious child to sleep. After all, Yuri had never asked him for one.

They were interrupted by Sara, who informed them that Yakov was waiting for him in his office. Victor grimaced.

“Sorry, Victor”, she concluded, giving him a pitying look. Mila not-so-subtly ogled her butt while she walked away.

“I’m doomed, aren’t I?”

She pulled her eyes away from Sara’s hips to openly laugh at him.

“Yeah, you’re doomed.”

-

It wasn’t pretty. Victor had tried to charm Yakov with smiles and promises. However, the newscast director remained unimpressed. Long-term exposure had made him immune, and the old man was all too aware that Victor and promises were a horrible combination.

Victor was eventually let of the hook with threats of dismissal and bodily harm if he didn’t get his act together.

He knew Yakov didn’t really mean it, though. Or at least the threat of dismissal. Victor was, though young, very talented. However lacking his performance had been that day, he was adored by the camera and audience-small though it was. Firing him would do more harm than good.

He thought.

He hoped. After all, he relied upon it. He needed the money to provide for his family of four. He needed his pizza, Yuri needed his ice cream, Makkachin needed her fancy canned food and Bessie needed her beans!

After work Victor stopped by a local bookstore, something he rarely did as he mostly read e-books now, or bought his books online. It wasn’t a very charming bookstore. It looked rather tacky and sold more tabloids, dime novels and ghostwritten  autobiographies of half-forgotten celebrities than actual literature.

Victor found the children’s section with a little help from the bored assistant, who simply pointed a thumb towards the back without looking up.

Much like the rest of the shop, the children’s section was pretty disappointing: spanning a tiny corner, half-hidden behind a large shelf that contained “This Month’s Top 5!!!”. The section contained only one shelf for children below ten, and only five of those books were appropriate for Yuri. Victor picked one at random. _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_. Victor shrugged and carried the book to the check-out counter.

-

Victor envied the parents whose kids’ face lit up when they saw them and ran into their arms. Yuri barely looked up from his drawing when his uncle happily shouted his name.

Victor briefly wondered why Yuri didn’t play with other kids, until a kid came within a three feet radius and Yuri glared at him with a look of utter disgust. The victim may or may not have peed his pants when he ran away crying.

“What are you drawing, Yuri?”, Victor asked him as he crouched down beside him, receiving the same ferocious glare. But Victor was immune. He just kept smiling at the blond.

“It’s a tiger, can’t you see that?”, the boy snapped.

It was a bunch of angry red lines that resembled more a puddle of blood than a tiger.

“Of course I do! I just wanted to test if you did, too!”

Yuri wasn’t fooled. He crumbled the paper and got up, walking towards the exit, without looking back. Victor scrambled to his feet and followed.

“I want ice cream”, Yuri demanded as they reached the car.

Oh no.

“Yuri, I don’t think-“

“But I want ice cream!”

The man sighed as he adjusted Yuri’s seatbelt.

“Makkachin is waiting at home for her walk”, he tried.

“So?”

The boy knew Victor couldn’t say no to him.

“What’s that?” Yuri said, pointing at the plastic bag leaning against his car seat. Victor perked up.

“It’s a surprise!”

“What is it?”

“I’m not telling, it’s a surprise. I’ll tell you when we get home.”

Yuri grabbed the bag and pulled out the book.

He stared at it for a while.

“I’ll read it to you, would you like that?”

The blond shrugged and gently put the book back down.

“I want my ice cream.”

-

It worked. It bloody worked. Yuri had climbed into his bed willingly,  had waited and _listened_ and laughed at the funny bits when Victor read out the tale. And then the boy had yawned and nestled himself into his sheets, pulling Saber close. He seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open, nodding off soon afterwards. Victor stared, dumbfounded- It was only 7:30 p.m.

A miracle! A miracle had occurred!

He kissed the caterpillar on the cover; “Thank you thank you,!”, he whispered, afraid to wake up Yuri. “I will never forget what you did for me! If you ever need another apple, or two pears, or three plums, or whatever else you want to eat, just tell me. I’ll even buy you the entire food department from the grocery store!”

He put the book down by Yuri’s bedside table and quickly fled the room.

“Makka, Makka!”, he half-whispered. Makkachin perked up at her master calling her name.

“We did it, Makka! He’s asleep! At a normal hour!” He jumped up and down on the carpet. Makkachin, even though she had no idea just why Victor was in such state, was excited because her master was excited. She too joined him playing, dancing and rolling around with Victor.

-

“Mila!” he shouted, approaching the studio. She looked up from reviewing  the questions for the interview. They had a guest today – some farmer who swore he had seen the aliens that had made the crop circle in his fields.

Mila’s eyebrows shot up as she saw him. After Yuri had gone to bed Victor had made preparations for today but, most of all, got a good night’s rest. He knew he looked good today.

He was wearing his best grey suit and had finally gotten rid of the bags beneath his eyes. He felt reborn, and he knew it showed.

“Mila!” he repeated as he threw his arms open and gave her a tight bear hug. The red-head awkwardly patted his back, her confusion evident by her frown.

“I could kiss you! I would _marry_ you if it weren’t for the fact that I’m impossibly gay!” he squeezed her even tighter.

“The feeling is mutual, darling. Any reason you’re mentioning this today?”

Victor pulled back and looked at her, still holding her shoulders.

“It worked! Your advice, it worked! You’re a miracle worker!”

Understanding dawned on her and a big grin replaced her frown.

“It worked, then?”

“Like a charm! No really, it was like actual magic!”

“I’m glad, then.”

“I could cry.”

“Don’t. You actually look okay for once.”

“You’re mean.”

“I’m honest. Now come, we should look over these questions one more time…”

-

It worked for a few days. Then Yuri ripped out the page with the ice cream and demanded a new story.

“I’m so sorry”, Victor whispered to the mangled book. The library was not an option, then.

He put Yuri to bed late that night, after the boy had refused to listen to the caterpillar again, or any other story Victor had made up.  he grabbed his laptop and googled children’s bookstore, followed by the name of his town.

He finally found one that looked quite promising.

It was called _Yutopia._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha this was supposed to be super short and Victor hasn't even met Yuuri yet. Woops.
> 
> The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a real (and very popular) children's book. A lot of you will remember it from your childhood, I'm sure. Victor doesn't because he's never had the pleasure of being read to as a child :(
> 
> next chapter will have Yuuri (finally), more grumpy Yuri, more Victor who talks to inanimate objects and also a Victor that really gets into reading out loud and starts using different voices ^^
> 
> please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed the story so far :)


	2. The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it was None of his Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuri visit Yutopia. 
> 
> They meet Yuuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waah your comments made me so incredibly happy!! Thank you for everyone who left a kudo and/or a comment <3

The bookshop had opened fairly recently, so Victor could not find a lot of information, but the reviews he did find glorified the place. He had very high expectations.

The shop lay secluded, hidden away in a small forest on the outskirts of town. The road leading to it was long and bumpy, and the three of them (as Victor had decided to bring Makkachin along) shook up and down in the leather seats of the Audi. Even GPS didn’t register the road yet, a fact which had Victor cursing under his breath because he was absolutely terrible at orientation and was terrified of getting lost.

He wondered if Makkachin could sniff their way back. Dogs could always find their way back home, right? Right?

“Makkachin”, he said mock-seriously as he briefly stopped the car. “Can we trust you with our lives?” He looked over his shoulder at Makkachin, who lay on a blanket in the backseat next to Yuri. The dog stared back at him, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. The look she gave him screamed “What the cat are you talking about. Can I have a cookie?”

Victor pouted at his dog’s lack of response. His eyes shifted to the boy next to her. He was clad entirely in black -Victor had asked him that morning whether he didn’t want to add more colour, like the other kids did. Yuri had replied that he wanted to wear black and only black, and that had been the end of it.

“Yuri. Do you trust me?”, the man asked him now, his face dead serious again.

“No.”

 _Neither do I_ , he thought, while outwardly placing a hand on his heart in mock-hurt.

“Ahhh! Like an arrow to my heart!”

Yuri was not impressed.

“I want out. Are we there yet?”

“Not quite” _I wonder if we’ll_ ever _arrive._ “But almost.” _Maybe._

He started the car again, and carefully resumed the journey in second gear. This, of course, made him think about the _Friends_ intro, which made him sing that intro out loud, which made Yuri yell at him to stop. After that, there was mostly silence, occasionally broken by the four-year-old’s “Are we there yet”, followed by Victor’s cheerful “Almost” and a quieter “I hope”.

-

After what felt like ages, but was probably only a couple of minutes, they rode up a parking lot. “Parking lot” was an exaggeration for what seemed to be a rather small clearing with rocks to divide four different slots. None of the slots were taken, but then it _was_ a slightly chilly April afternoon, and a Thursday at that.

Victor parked his car and turned in his seat face Yuri. “There. No reason to doubt to great Victor! I got us here nice and safe!”

He grinned at the boy dry reply that he had gotten them there _slowly._ Yuri then shifted in his seat, demanding that he be taken out because he had to pee. 

Victor followed the pathway that led them to the cottage, with little Yuri on his left hand, and Makkachin’s leash in his right. The cottage could not be seen from the parking lot, but as the pathway bent a little they arrived at a second clearing  and as such finally, _finally_ arrived at their destination.

And what a destination it was.

The front yard was an explosion of long grass and colourful, wild flowers. In between the flower beds sat plastic bunnies, deer, garden gnomes and other small creatures. Though the garden looked a little wild, it did not look unkempt and was clearly well-loved.

The cottage itself was relatively small, but made up for its size with its cheerful colours. The walls were painted in a soft pink, while the roof and window panes were a bright green. The cottage had a stone chimney and a rather large covered porch with a life-sized plastic horse.

A white picket fence surrounded the property. The lack of colour in the woodwork was perhaps an attempt to balance out the colour explosion that was the garden and cottage. On the garden gate the name _YUTOPIA_ was written in a slight arch.

Victor loved it.

So did Yuri, judging by the gasp he emitted.

They walked through the garden gate, down the garden path and up the porch, standing still in front of the door. It was the same green of the roof and the window panes, and had a window in the top half, with a sign on door that read OPEN. Victor attached Makkachin’s leash to the beam supporting the porch roof.

“Stay put now, Makka!”

As Victor and Yuri entered the shop, a jingling sound announcing their presence.

The shop was as warm and homely on the inside, as it was bright and colourful outside. A large fireplace stood on the right side, the walls surrounding it covered in shelves packed with children’s books, their distinctive thin spines and varying heights giving them away. The wall facing the front door held another door, presumably leading to the back yard. On the left, the counter stood, behind which (Victor presumed) the owner sat.

Victor did not know what he expected the owner to be like. Perhaps a tiny, wrinkled old lady wearing an apron, who squeezed the cheeks of every child that came into her shop, would peer over the counter. But it certainly hadn’t been this.

For one thing, it was a man. He was young, maybe even younger than Victor. The tips of his unruly raven hair just brushed the top of his glasses, behind which lay large eyes, whose colour Victor could not discern from this distance. His light woollen sweater, in combination with his soft curves, made him look highly huggable. _Edible_ , even.

He was, Victor decided, much better than a wrinkled old lady.

Victor saw his own shock mirrored in the other man’s face, eyes wide and mouth falling open. He briefly wondered why - was his fly open? Did he spill coffee on his shirt? Had his hair suddenly flown away like a bird?

Then the man stuttered, “Y- you’re –“

 _Ah_.

In a few strides Victor crossed the distance between them and offered the man his hand and his most charming smile.

“Victor Nikiforov, yes, a pleasure. I assume you watch our news channel?”, he said with a wink. Though their TVFEL was quite local, he sometimes did get recognized  by a viewer. And his Instagram was very popular.

The slightly shorter man stared at his outstretched hand and whimpered. He didn’t take it. Nor did he reply. As seconds passed, Victor awkwardly flexed his fingers and eventually withdrew his hand and cleared his throat.

“Right.”

He looked down  at Yuri when he felt a tugging at his sleeve.

“I gotta pee”, the boy reminded him in a soft, barely audible voice.

 _Right_.

“I’m sorry. Can my Yuri here use the bathroom?”

The man looked at him confusedly and, perhaps he was imagining it, a little affronted. Then he seemed to realise something when he looked at Yuri and quickly snapped out of his daze.

“Of course! Right over there, in the back”, he said, smiling down warmly at Yuri. The child followed his pointing finger and entered the bathroom.

_Adorable!_

“Does he still need help?” the shop keeper then asked as he looked up at Victor. Victor noticed that his eyes were a warm, chocolaty brown.

“Is there a step stool?”

“Yes.”

“Then he’ll be fine. Thank you so much for letting him use you toilet, mr. …?”

“Yuuri. Yuuri Katsuki. Although just Yuuri is fine”, He looked away then, pink dusting his cheeks. _Yuuri_. That explained the insulted look a few moments ago.

“Alright then _Just Yuuri”,_ Victor smirked and leaned an elbow on the counter, resting his chin on his palm. “You can call me _Just Victor,_ if you’d like.” Yuuri nodded but avoided his gaze, choosing instead to concentrate on fiddling with the notepad and pen in his hand, before dropping it. He made a little jump as if he had dropped a knife instead of a pen and then bent down to pick it up.

Victor admired the view.

“Oh”, he suddenly remembered. “I left my dog on the porch! Is that okay?” Yuuri’s face lit up.

“You brought Ma- your dog?” His eyes sparkled up at him hopefully. “Ah- yes, it’s fine, it’s fine! No problem!”

 Victor beamed. “Do you like dogs? He’s a poodle, absolutely adorable! Would you like to meet him?” Yuuri nodded furiously, by which time little Yuri had come back from the bathroom.

“Yuri! Yuuri here really wants to see Makkachin! Let’s go get him.”

Yuri blinked up at him. “No I don’t.”

“I mean that Yuuri”, Victor corrected himself pointing at the other man. “The nice man who allowed you to use his bathroom. Aren’t you going to say thank you?”

Yuri turned to look at the raven and clenched his little fists. “You can’t be Yuri. _I’M_ Yuri. I am the _only_ Yuri!”

_So much for showing his gratitude._

Victor quickly apologized for his nephew, but Yuuri waved his hand: “It’s fine.”

But it wasn’t fine, Victor thought as he looked how uncomfortable Yuuri looked. _Or maybe,_ the Russian reflected,   _He’s still shook by the sudden appearance of my very charming and handsome self. It’s a very real possibility_.  

Victor decided to allow Makkachin to break the tension by untying her leash on the porch. “You’ll behave yourself, won’t you Makka? Of course you will, you always do.” He kissed her quickly on her wet nose before he released her.

The dog bounded inside and jumped on a surprised (but very much delighted) Yuuri, knocking him down.

“Or not.”

After Yuuri had eventually managed to push the dog off, he laughed heartily, scratched behind her ears and got dozens of licks in return. The Asian man then turned to Victor and asked him whether he came to his shop looking for a book. Victor was relieved, Yuuri was smiling, still a little pink, but definitely more relaxed now. Victor’s failed plan had worked.

“Yes!” Victor beamed. He had almost forgotten what he was there for. “We’re looking for another bedtime story for Yura!” Said boy wasn’t paying attention, though, sitting in a little reading corner on a stool with crossed arms and a big pout, angry that someone else shared his name. Yuri didn’t like sharing. Makkachin pushed her snout in his face and gave him a lick to console him, but Yuri looked horrified as he rubbed the drool off his face.

“Anything specific in mind?” Yuuri looked at him expectantly. He was clearly in his element now, switched into his professional, client-friendly mode. 

It was kind of hot.

But if you asked Victor, flustered Yuuri was still the best Yuuri.

Victor hummed. “Not Really. I’m a little new with this. But!” Victor raised a finger and shuffled a little closer to Yuuri. “Why don’t you tell me _your_ favourite. I’m sure you’re better at this than I am.”

“M-my favourite?”, Yuuri squeaked. Victor nodded. He was awfully close now, perhaps a bit too close to be strictly professional, but Yuuri flushed that adorable pink again, so Victor called it a win.

“I suppose…”

Yuuri brusquely turned away from Victor and made a beeline to one of the shelves, rummaging a bit with the books standing there. At last he triumphantly held out a book. Victor read the title, _The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business_. The cover also had a picture of a mole who wore  glasses and what appeared to be turd hat. Apart from the hat, the mole reminded him a little of Yuuri.

“Great, I’ll take it!”

(While Victor payed, Yuuri asked little Yuri whether he wanted a candy from the bowl on the counter. Yuri said “Not really” and grabbed a fist full)

-

Victor couldn’t wait to read the new book he bought, but it was still too early for Yuri to go to bed. Perhaps the dreary weather was affecting his mood, but the four-year-old was remarkably docile that afternoon.  Victor decided to take his work to the living room.

He settled into the couch with his laptop perched on his lap. As local as his company –TVFEL- was, Victor’s job as an anchor was more than presenting the news, but included some writing, researching and organizing as well. Luckily, his days of live reporting were mostly over. He didn’t think he could have managed that easily with Yuri in the picture.

Yuri sat quietly in front of the window, Makka’s head on his lap. It had started raining soon after they arrived home, and Yuri had listened to the patter on the window and watched the garden’s grass getting soaked ever since. The garden was new for Victor. He had always lived in a flat before. But when he took Yuri in, it was getting harder to take out Makkachin as much as he previously did, especially later in the evening. Victor refused to leave the child alone when he was sleeping to walk his dog.

So he’d moved. To a house with a garden.

Makkachin yawned in Yuri’s lap and the boy scratched her ear.

Victor’s heart ached a little, though he didn’t really understand why.

He snapped a picture and posted it on his Instagram, captioning it with a dozen hearts.

He only later realised it had rained _that_ day, many months ago. He suddenly felt guilty about posting that picture.

-

Victor did his best to drown out the rain as he read The Story of the Little Mole to Yuri that evening. He bleated, whinnied, buzzed and mooed to the best of his abilities, and tried to make the dropping of every kind of poop sound as realistically as possible. Every animal was, of course, give its own voice.

Halfway through, Yuri was already doubled up with laughter. Maybe it was because the book was funny.  Perhaps even because Victor had looked and sounded absolutely ridiculous. Victor didn’t really care. He just hugged the boy fondly and Yuri, for once, didn’t complain about it.

-

The next morning had Victor thinking about Yuuri from Yutopia again. He thought of his bright laughter, his red cheeks, his wide brown eyes, his soft curves and warm smile.

 _People who sell children’s books_ , Victor thought, _are the very purest, most innocent of people._

_Or paedophiles._

But Victor refused to think Yuuri was a paedophile.

By the time he arrive at TVFEL his head was in the clouds.

“You’re late”, Mila commented as he entered the studio.

“No, Mila”, Victor replied dreamily. “I’m in love. Or very nearly so.”

“Oh?” Mila raised an eyebrow. This was a first. Her heels clicked on the tiles as she approached him to adjust his tie, since he’d done a poor job of it himself. _She,_ on the other hand, looked impeccable. It probably had to do with a certain someone working in the same building, though, since Mila was generally more chaotic than he was.

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Yuuri!”, Victor exclaimed immediately.  “He’s absolutely adorable! I just want to squeeze his chubby cheeks and other soft bits and kiss his chapped lips and hide him from the world –“ He cut himself off, confused at Mila’s horrified face.

“What?”, he asked, cocking his head.

“Victor, I know you really love your nephew but this is _not_ okay. It’s called paedophilia and you should get help.”

It Victor three seconds to absorb what she was saying, before he gagged and threw up his hands.

“No! God, not _that_ Yuri! _Not_ my nephew, I meant the Yuuri who owns Yutopia, a children’s bookstore I discovered!”

“Oh.”

“God, this is going to be confusing. Tell you what, I’m just going to use ‘Yurio’ for little Yuri. It rhymes with Yu-Gi-Oh! and he’s really into that right now.”

That’s what he’d been calling Yuri when he’d watched the series for too long.

“Isn’t he a bit too young for Yu-Gi-Oh! ?” Mila remarked. “Besides, he’ll hate that name.”

“Maybe only  a little”, Victor lied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it was None of his Business is a book by Werner holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch, and it's propbably my all-time favourite. If you don't know it (or even if you do and want to relive your childhood), you can find a reading of story on Youtube.
> 
> Yutopia is partly inspired by the children's bookstore I used frequent when I was a child (it had a horse on the porch as well!), though it was bigger, I think. Actually I can't remember much of that store besides that horse. Villa Villekulla (as that was the store's name) doesn't exist anymore, so I can't exactly go and check. The Villa, as its name suggests, was in its turn inspired by the stories of Pippi Longstocking. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Shhh!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor runs away from his problems.
> 
> (and into Yuuri's arms)

Victor wasn’t really surprised when he was approached by Yuri’s preschool teacher when he came to pick up Yuri one day.

He had wanted to quickly find Yurio and leave, but the woman cornered him before he even saw the boy. She looked about forty and wore what she probably considered  a ‘fun’ outfit, but was actually just a gross insult to fashion. The image was topped off with a belittling smile. Victor disliked her instantly.

“You must be Yuri Plisetsky’s father. Hi, I’m Sasha Smith, his teacher.”

She offered her hand confidently. Victor assumed her conclusion was because he had dropped and picked up Yuri every day from school for a while now. He Shook her outstretched hand reluctantly.

“Uncle, actually. Though I _am_ his legal guardian. Victor Nikiforov, a pleasure.” She looked slightly taken aback at his answer and Victor thought he saw a flash of recognition in her eyes when he mentioned his name, but the woman recovered quickly.

“Right. I wanted to discuss something with you.” She lowered her voice then, as if she didn’t want the other parents to hear. Her mouth was slightly pouted and she looked up to Victor through her lashes. 

“It’s about Yuri’s behaviour.”

Just because it was a surprise didn’t mean it was any less unpleasant.

“Oh?” Victor raised an eyebrow as if this was news to him. “What about it?”

“We – that is, me and the other staff members – noticed Yuri was having trouble-“ she paused as if searching for the right words, but Victor suspected she had practiced this speech and had likely even tried to accost him with it before. He counted himself lucky he had escaped her until now.

“… _communicating_ with the other children in his group”

“How so?” Victor refused to make it any easier on her.

“Well, he often separates himself from the other kids, and comes off rather intimidating to them. He has yet to make any friends, and-“ she hesitated.

“And?”

“You must know, Mr. Nikiforov, that we do not tolerate bullies here. We would like you, as a parent, to take matters into your hands and have a chat with the boy.”

“Bullying? Really  now, Miss Smith-“

“Oh, please. Call me Sasha.” the woman interrupted him.

“Alright then, _Sasha”_ , he said through gritted teeth. _“_ I think you might be exaggerating a little. Excluding oneself can hardly be called bull-”

“He has been caught biting the other children, Mr. Nikiforov”, she said, interrupting him a second time. Victor clenched his jaw.

“The boy has had a rough year, Sasha. His parents, they-“ he cleared his throat. “The point is – a lot has happened and many things changed for him. If he’s having trouble adjusting, I’m sure he’ll get over it in his own time.”

“I see”, the woman replied, pursing her lips. Viktor assumed the conversation was over and made a start to leave and find Yurio, but the woman seemed intent on continuing the conversation.

“Mr. Nikiforov, is there a _Mrs._ Nikiforov?”

“Excuse me?”

“We just thought, as caretakers, that Yuri might improve in the care and presence of a woman-“

“Are you implying that I can’t handle my nephew?”, he snapped. Victor was really furious now. The _nerve_ of the woman. “No, there is no Mrs. Nikiforov, to answer your question, and I don’t think I need one either. I think we’re done here now. Goodbye.”

And he left her there, her mouth slightly agape.

Later, he asked Yuri whether he wanted to switch schools. Yuri shrugged and said he didn’t really care, so Victor resolved to enrol him somewhere else.

-

Victor forced himself of nice things to distract himself from his anger. He thought of Makkachin’s soft fur, Yuri’s rare smile, and the gentle roar of Bessie when she grinded coffee beans in the morning.

Victor’s mind  slowly wandered to a certain open clearing in the forest. To the cheery cottage with its bright flowers, plastic animals and the chimney, which had been smoking at the time. Victor fancied that it was always smoking. It seemed more romantic and magical that way.

But most of all, he thought of the bright, blushing Yuuri _within_ that cottage.

There’s only one thing a self-respecting person with a bit of a crush can do-  stalk said crush on social media.

It began quite innocently- a google search, because he forgot Yuuri’s surname. Then he scrolled through his followers to see if he could find him on Instagram – he couldn’t,  debated whether he should send him a friend request on Facebook- he didn’t- and checked if Yuuri had tweeted anything recently that wasn’t too creepy to retweet or like now- he hadn’t.

It was, overall, an unsatisfying quest, but then he remembered that Yurio desperately needed variation in his bedtime stories anyway, so he had the perfect excuse to come back for a second book.

-

He proposed the idea to Yurio two days after their first visit to Yutopia. Victor had been sitting on the edge of the bath while carefully lathering Yuri’s golden hair with shampoo. His fingers carded through his nephew’s locks and carefully prevented the shampoo from trickling down into Yurio’s eyes. Saber was watching them intently, perched on the corner of the bath, as Victor held the running showerhead over Yurio’s head and washed his hair.

Victor had only narrowly prevented Yurio from bringing his stuffed animal _into_ the bath with him by explaining that tigers were like big cats, and cats didn’t like to get wet.  Yurio had conceded to the sound logic in Victor’s reasoning and agreed _not_ to submit Saber to that torture, on the condition that he’d stay close. 

And of course, by close, Yuri meant right on the edge of the bath where the tiger could easily fall in anyway.

Saber knew Victor had tried, though, and they nodded at each other in mutual understanding.

“So Yurio,” Victor started. The boy turned with a glare, scowling at the nickname.

“My name is Yuri.”

“Alright then, Yura.” Yuri grimaced, but didn’t reply.

“It’s Saturday, why don’t we go to Yutopia to buy another book?” Victor asked excitedly. “And perhaps we’ll see the other Yuuri again”,  he added in a softer voice.

“The pig?” Yurio asked, but Victor chose to ignore that comment, his smile not faltering in the least.

“It’s such a nice day! It’ll be fun walking through the forest!” Yuri stared at him blankly.

“And we’ll go have ice cream afterwards?”, Victor tried. The blond nodded then.

“Okay, if we have to.” Victor thought he saw excitement in the young boy’s eyes, though, and it wasn’t because of the ice cream. Probably

They were interrupted by scratching at the door. Makkachin must’ve been feeling lonely and went to look for them.

Victor suddenly recollected that Makkachin knew how to open the door. He glanced at the lock, but it was too late. The door was unlocked, and Makkachin had already jumped on the handle to open it. He should never have taught her that trick.

Victor knew Makkachin liked knocking people down. He also knew he was in quite a dangerous position to be knocked down. He looked at her sternly and lifted a finger in warning.

“Makkachin, no.”

Deciphering an animal’s mind is often quite a challenge. People so often wish they could talk to their pet. Fairy tales and fables were well-loved partly because of all the talking animals.

On the other hand, it was entirely easy to identify Makkachin’s thoughts at that exact moment.

_Makkachin yes!_

Victor was pushed into the bath with a yelp.

When he raised his head above water again, he saw that Makkachin, the floor, and Saber were soaked by the wave he had created by falling in. Luckily, Victor had avoided falling on Yuri, who was unharmed, if a little miffed.

“This is not my fault”, Victor said to the stuffed toy. “I’m just as much a victim as you are.”

Saber looked at him accusingly anyway.

-

Victor found the parking lot to Yutopia with slightly more ease the second time. This time, the lot was not empty: There was a big “soccer mom” car that took up two slots, and a bike with a child seat resting against a tree. Victor tried and failed to not feel a little disappointed at not being alone this time. Maybe it was a little selfish, but he liked the thought of having the place all to himself, like a secret only he knew.

It was a nice day, just as he’d promised Yurio, nice enough to justify fishing his sunglasses out of his pocket as he stepped out of the car. He put a smaller pair of sunglasses on Yuri’s nose too. Victor would have bought Makkachin a pair, but he didn’t think she’d have appreciated it. It’s pretty hard to explain to a dog how something ‘looks cool’. He had tried, though.

Yurio was far more perceptive to the idea of sunglasses and ‘being cool’. Some people -Victor was not one of them- might even say he had ‘outcooled’ his uncle,  with his ever present scowl preference for black outfits. It came as no surprise, then, that the boy easily let himself be dragged into a selfie with Victor and Makkachin. Victor used the picture as his new lock screen. He looked up to show it to Yurio, but the boy was already walking down the pathway. Yuri appeared to be just as excited as he was, and Victor followed the child with a soft smile tugging his lips.

As they reached the end of the path, Victor noticed that something had changed. It didn’t take him long to find out- the white, silver-maned horse was not on the porch anymore. Instead, it peered over the low fence, welcoming the costumers. Victor patted its neck and greeted it cheerfully before going through the gate, briefly wondering how Yuuri had moved something that big and heavy-looking. The door to the cottage was open, and this time Victor didn’t bother to leave Makkachin outside.

It was much darker inside the cottage, but he didn’t want to take his glasses off _just yet_ , so he let his eyes adjust to the darkness for a few seconds and looked around. A woman, whom he assumed was the owner of the “soccer mom” car, was browsing through the shelves, and another other woman was chatting animatedly with Yuuri, who smiled and nodded at something she said. There were no children inside, but Victor heard laughing and screaming through the open door on the other side of the room.

He observed the woman talking to Yuuri. She was long and thin, her hair braided into a long brown plait. She had freckles all over her skin, and a cute, dimpled smile. Victor grudgingly admitted she was quite pretty, but he had never been insecure about his own looks, so he approached them confidently and with a bright smile.

“Yuuri!” Victor called out, and Yuuri finally noticed him. He looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Victor to come back. There was also a hint of supressed delight in his face, though, and his cheeks were dusted pink.

“Victor!”

The Russian did take his sunglasses of then, dramatically whipping his hair back and winking at the Japanese. It did the trick. Yuuri and and Victor silently stared at each other. Neither noticed the thin brunette excusing herself to go look for her son.

The, Victor lifted Yurio up in his arms. “Say hi to Yuuri, Yurio”, Victor whispered, never taking his eyes of Yuuri.

“Hi, pig.” Yuuri’s eyes snapped to Yurio’s. He looked shocked. Hurt, even.

“Don’t take it to heart, Yuuri!”, Victor tried to recover the situation. “I’m sure he’s only saying that because you blush such a pretty pink.” Yuuri blushed even brighter at that comment.

“No, it’s because he’s f-“

“Hey, Yurio, I hear some kids playing outside! Don’t you want to join them?” Victor put his nephew down and gently pushed him towards the backdoor. “It sounds like they’re having loads of fun, don’t you want to see what they’re up to?”

“Not really”, Yuri grumbled, but he stomped outside anyway. As he watched him leave, Victor saw there was a big rubber tire tied to the sturdy branch of a tree, thus functioning as a swing. It explained the kids’ excitement. He turned back to Yuuri, hand scratching the back of his head and looking sheepishly.

“I’m- It’s-“ Victor sighed in frustration, he seldom had this much trouble with words. “He’s special?” It came out as a question. A question for the forgiveness he never asked, after an apology he’d never given.

Yuuri looked vulnerable, his face holding an expression too close to hurt for Victor’s comfort. There was a question there too, but one that Victor didn’t know the answer to, so he remained silent.

The searching look behind Yuuri’s glasses  shifted to one of disappointment, just for a moment, before closing off and becoming unreadable. Victor began to panic.

“So what’s out there anyway, to have all those kids screaming in excitement?”, he observed, pretending to be nonchalant. It was just something to break the tension, but it seemed to work nonetheless. Victor could almost see the strain gliding of Yuuri’s shoulders.

“I made a little playground for the visiting kids. It has a seesaw, a swing and a slide. I’m also working on a treehouse, though I haven’t finished it yet.”

“You _made_ it?” Victor asked incredulously. He hurried to the door to have a look at it. Two kids were playing on the seesaw, while another was going down the slide. Yurio had claimed the swing, and hissed at anyone who came near, even though he could barely climb on it. The branch the swing was hanging from belonged to a huge oak tree, with roots as thick as Victor’s thighs –Victor had _magnificent_ thighs, so that was saying something. Amongst the lowest branches the base for a treehouse had already been built.

Yuuri must have mistaken Victor’s incredulity for worry though, as he hastened to add, “It’s perfectly safe, don’t worry! I made Phichit jump on it after it was done and the wood didn’t even budge.”

_Phichit?_

“Oh, I wasn’t even thinking of that, though that’s good to know. I was just very much impressed!” Yuuri’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ at that and he avoided looking Victor in the eye. His response was a mumbling that said something about “no big deal” and “YouTube tutorial” and “Phichit helped.”

There was that name again- _Phichit_.

“Is Phichit your boyfriend?” he blurted out. Well, subtlety was never his strong suit anyway. 

Yuuri’s wide chocolate eyes blinked up at Victor from behind his glasses. “Phichit? Oh no, he’s my roommate, a friend. Best friend, really.” He smiled softly. “He’s helped me a lot with Yutopia. _Still_ helps me. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” Yuuri spoke with so much affection that Victor could not help feeling a little jealous. He couldn’t stop staring, though. Yuuri was standing in the doorway with him, a breeze playing with his hair and the tender affection made him _glow._

It left Victor breathless with longing.

“He also helps keep me in check when I get too enthusiastic about future plans for Yutopia”, Yuuri laughed.

“Future plans?” Victor hated how his voice sounded a little hoarse. “What do you have in mind then?”

“After the treehouse, when I’ve saved up enough money, I’d like to use the space I have left of my backyard as a pasture with a couple of goats.”

Victor laughed, but stopped after he noticed the tips of Yuuri’s ears turning red.

“Oh, you’re serious.”

Yuuri pursed his lips and nodded.

“Why goats?”

“From an economical point of view? It attracts costumers. Kids love animals, and with a little bit of luck, they’ll beg their parents to keep coming back. Besides, apart from the costs of a sturdy fence, goats are pretty low-maintenance.”

“And from a personal point of view?”

Yuuri hesitated.

“I like goats. They always look like they’re smiling.”

And that must have been the most adorable thing Victor ever heard out of a grown man’s mouth.

They kept talking after that. It was easy, comfortable. Yuuri told him more about Phichit, about Phichit’s hamsters and about their apartment in the city. About his parents and his sister, about Japan, and the onsen they used to own.

Victor, in turn, told Yuuri about Yurio and Makkachin and Bessie, about his job as a news anchor, about Mila and Yakov.

It was nice.

It was more than nice.

-

Victor almost forgot to buy a book. He remembered just before they were leaving through the front door. Yuuri laughed, and recommended _shhh!_ by Sally Grindley. It has little flaps and big giants and Victor was _excited._

He remembered something else, too.

“Let’s take a selfie, Yuuri! You, me, Yurio, Makkachin and the book! I can advertise Yutopia for you on my Instagram!”

It was a tight fit to get all of them on the picture but the perfect excuse to get Yuuri’s number. Victor slyly asked whether he should send the photos to Yuuri, so that he could have them too. Yuuri smiled at him brilliantly.

Victor had a picture of that smile now.

And his number.

He added it to his contact list. His phone asked him for a name, so Victor typed “Yuuri”. Paused. Added a heart. Deleted the heart.

Added five hearts.

_Perfect._

Yuuri’s blush was not as pretty in pixels as in real life. Victor treasured the picture anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Victor, what are you doing. Going to another preschool ain't gonna solve your problems.
> 
> Chapter is named after Shhh! by Sally Grindley (also mentioned in the story.)


	4. We’re Going On a Bear Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor, Yurio and Makka meet Phichit.
> 
> Phichit embarrasses Yuuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New semester has started. It's hectic. I will not bore you with the details.  
> Here's a slightly longer chapter to make up for it.
> 
> ALSO
> 
> Thank you for all your lovely lovely comments and kudos! You brighten my day and I would have given up a long time ago if it weren't for you guys!
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO
> 
> I hope you enjoy Phichit in this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing him :3

There were only a few minutes left before broadcast, but Victor was still fiddling with his phone in his cubicle. It was strange- he hated his cubicle. Yakov insisted they didn’t have the budget for an actual office, no matter how much Victor had begged. Yakov simply called him overdramatic until Victor accepted his fate.

Moreover, Victor needed mental preparation. Christophe Giacometti would be reporting live and that was _always_ an event. Victor was not, however, bracing himself for Chris. Instead, he opened his messaging app and tapped his conversation with Yuuri. It had been two days since he got Yuuri’s number, and the conversation had yet to progress from the mere “thank you for the pictures!” and Victor’s responding “Anytime! xx”.

Maybe the kisses were too much? Had he scared him away? Was Yuuri lost to him forever? His fingers hovered over the keys, desperately thinking of an excuse to text Yuuri. The possibilities ranged from “I heard this song and it made me think of you” to “you are so cute and hot, I want to father your biologically impossible children and live with you and our kids on a farm with ten goats and three poodles.”

Victor wasn’t sure what would be appreciated most. He knew _he_ would be ecstatic with either coming from Yuuri.

He was rudely interrupted by a rolled up newspaper slamming down on his silver hair. He most definitely did not jerk in his seat, let alone emit an embarrassingly high yelp.

“Vitya, get your ass on set. You’re live in less than half an hour and you’re not even ready yet.” Yakov was looking down at him with an intimidating scowl. Victor rubbed the back of his head and grumbled something apologetic before looking down at his phone again. Luckily, he had not accidently sent his latest horrible attempt of “I’m sorry, I think I forgot something at Yutopia the other day and I was wondering if you found it. It’s red, meaty, the size of a fist and kind of gross and it beats faster the closer you are. Can you please return it?”

Yakov looked over Victor’s shoulder to read the text he was rapidly deleting. “What’s got you so distracted?”

“Nothing?” Victor tried. Yakov raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“I’m trying to find an excuse to text this guy I like,” Victor admitted miserably. He was swatted on the head a second time. “Ouch!” He yelled indignantly.

“What are you, twelve? And since when do you need an excuse to do whatever the hell you want? Now get your ass in the studio before I fire you.” Yakov mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “Kids these days” and stepped brusquely out of Victor’s cubicle.

Yakov  had a point, though.  Why making up excuses to send a stupid text? He was Victor Nikiforov! Anyone would be happy to receive a text from _the_ Victor Nikiforov, no matter the content!

 **[you]:** Hi! (≧▽≦)

 _There. That’ll do_. He flung his phone on his desk and headed to the studio.

-

Broadcasting with Chris was, of course, an experience. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Chris, because he did. It was just very hard to keep a straight face when the blond was reporting anything that wasn’t too serious.  Chris saw it as his moral duty to, without being overtly indecent, insert as many insinuations  and lewd puns in his reporting as possible.

It was a wonder he hadn’t been fired already, considering all the times he had crossed the line. Victor ascribed this to the Swiss’ fanbase, which rivalled his own. Victor may have been the most charming, but Chris definitely had the most sex appeal.

Victor did sometimes wonder whether TVFEL only survived because of its abundance of hot people on board. It’s not unusual, of course, that television is dominated by visually appealing people, but TVFEL seemed to have an uncommonly high rate. Perhaps Yakov had been a modelling agent in another lifetime.

With his mind completely occupied with the disaster that was Chris and while trying to stifle his laugh, Victor almost forgot about the text he had send. That is, until he got back to his cubicle and picked up his phone.

No new messages.

Victor’s heart sank.

He continued to check his phone throughout the day, but it wasn’t until much later he finally received a reply.

 **[Yuuri <3 <3 <3 <3 <3]: **Hello :)

It was amazing how a small reply could make Victor’s heart flutter like it did. He rapidly fired a “How are you?” and “What are you doing?”. He then paused, before adding, “Sometimes I’m convinced Yurio was a cat in another lifetime because he hisses at Makka and is impossible to catch and scratches me if I try. I have scars, Yuuri, _scars._ ”, all to which Yuuri, thankfully, replied much faster.

Once the texting started, it didn’t stop. It was as if an invisible barrier had been lifted, conversation kept flowing as naturally an smoothly as it had that second day at Yutopia. Victor only missed seeing Yuuri with his own eyes- smiling and blushing at what Victor said, and the determination in his eyes when talking about his dreams and just Yuuri, Yuuri, _Yuuri._

It became a habit for Victor, Yuri and Makkachin to drop by at Yutopia whenever they had the time to do so. They arrived, patted the plastic horse that moved to a different spot every single time and greeted Yuuri. Or at least, Victor did. Yurio always ran out to play in the garden, regardless of the weather, Makkachin behind him with her tongue lolling out. Only Victor and Yuuri himself remained inside.

It left them plenty of opportunity to talk about all kinds of stuff. It’s how Victor discovered that Yuuri came to work by bike, to leave more parking space for his customers. He discovered that the fireplace was gas, the logs fake. Victor should have known, really. Kids, fire, and a shop full of burnable books were a bad, irresponsible combination. Moreover, the see-through screen prevented soot from dirtying the books.

Victor also found out that Yuuri’s favourite food was katsudon. His eyes sparkled when he talked about his favourite dish. Victor vowed to himself he would take Yuuri out one day to see him gobble it up.

Victor still hesitated to ask the other man out. It never seemed like the right time. Mila said he was being stupid for being too afraid to ask and assured him Yuuri would be delighted to go out with him. Victor knew that he was a catch, but then, so was Yuuri, and he didn’t want to mess up by doing something stupid like moving too quickly.

A few weeks passed like that.

One sunny Monday afternoon found them once again in front of Yutopia’s white fence. The white stallion (at least, Victor presumed it was a stallion. It certainly _looked_ majestic enough to be a stallion) had been moved again. This time, it stood in the middle of a circle of plastic bunnies as if they were adoring him as a god or sacrificing him for some evil satanic ritual. He didn’t get to stare long, though, as Yurio was tugging at his sleeve impatiently. Victor was all too happy to comply and they entered the cottage.

The man at the counter was not Yuuri.

His skin was too dark and his edges too sharp and he was too comfortable with the camera phone he was using to take selfies. He was not the soft curves and sweet blushes and cuddles Victor expected. His grip on Yurio’s hand tightened.

“Where’s Yuuri?” It almost came out as a whine, except that Victor Nikiforov didn’t whine. The dark-skinned man looked up from scrolling through the pictures he just took. His eyes widened immediately to the size of saucers and he grinned so widely Victor wondered whether he wasn’t hurting his cheeks.

He turned his head towards the door that led to the backyard. “Yuuri! Your DILF is here!!”. They heard a distant yelp and the clatter of wood. The mysterious Not-Yuuri-Person turned to Victor and Yurio again.

“He’s busy working on the treehouse but he’ll be here in a second, don’t worry!”, Not-Yuuri beamed at them. “I’m Phichit, by the way, Yuuri’s friend. His very platonic friend. Yuuri is single, you know. Just FYI.”

 _Oh, so this was Phichit._ He knew Yuuri was single, of course. He had asked him one of his earlier visits. Still, it was nice to get another confirmation. Victor smiled at Yuuri’s best friend. “Hello, I’m-“

“Victor Nikiforov, yes I know. I know all about you.” Phichit was still grinning like a madman, and Victor was a little worried. “Not in a creepy way, though”, Phichit hastily added. “Yuuri told me about you, that’s all.” Victor nodded politely and for a few seconds an awkward silence fell.

Victor suddenly remembered, “What’s a DILF?”

“Oh you know, variant of MILF, as in Dad I’d Like to F-“ Phichit’s eyes flickered to the boy holding Victor’s hand. “-hug. Fhug!”

Victor laughed.

“That’s not a real word!”, Yurio grumbled beside him.

“Yes it is”, Phichit protested. “It’s short for Friendly Hug. I’m an adult so I know better”, the man said as he stuck out his tongue.

At that moment Yuuri entered, a little out of breath, his glasses askew.  It might have turned Victor on a little.

“Yuuri!”

The other man ignored his greeting. “What has he been telling you?” He looked a little panicked.

“DILF!”

“Fhug!”, Victor and Yurio exclaimed at the same time. Yuuri blanched.

“Whatever he’s been telling you, it’s all lies!” Victor’s face fell at that.

“So you don’t talk about me? And you’re not single?”

Yuuri swallowed. “Maybe _some_ things are true”, he admitted. The Japanese refused to meet Victor’s eyes and quickly turned around to face Phichit so Victor couldn’t see the blush spreading. It was okay though, he could still see the tips of his ear reddening.

There must have been some silent communicating going on between the two friends. Victor saw Phichit’s eyebrows moving expressively until he eventually shrugged.

Yuuri turned, still red and refusing to look Victor in the eye.

“So, we were actually going to close soon. Since it’s a Monday. We close early on Mondays. So. Yeah.”

“We’re going out to celebrate my birthday!”, Phichit added, throwing his hands in the air excitedly. 

Victor tried to hide his disappointment with a smile. “Happy Birthday!”

Putting on a mask and a smile was Victor’s job, so it surprised him when Phichit walked up to him to pat his shoulder. “Don’t look so down, man.” The younger man brightened as if struck by a sudden idea.  “Why don’t you come with us?”

“Phichit”, Yuuri hissed. Phichit ignored him.

“We’re going ice-skating!”

“Phichit!”, Yuuri repeated louder.

“It’ll be fun!”

Victor fought the urge to hug the other man. “I’d love to!”

“But Yuri might not want to come! Right Yuri?” Yuuri stared at Yurio imploringly, but either the four-year-old was too young to take a hint, or he simply didn’t care about it. “I don’t mind.”

“That’s settled then!” Phichit clapped Yuuri’s slumped back. “Let’s finish up, then! Buy the books you want to buy, dear Victor, and notice I say books in plural form. A little bird told me you only ever buy one book at a time and I realise that’s the perfect excuse to come back regularly, but you gotta support the business, man. “

It was Victor’s time to blush now. What Phichit had said was all too true. Buying one book at a time _was_ sort of an excuse, but it wasn’t like he didn’t have the money to buy multiple books and still come back regularly. Even though children’s books were stupidly expensive.

He decided to buy three books: We’re Going On a Bear Hunt, Tales of a Sleeping Prince and The King and The Skater. The last one had been all but shoved it into his chest by Phichit, who assured him that both Yuri and Victor would love it because it was Phichit’s favourite.

When Victor reached the counter, Yuuri hesitantly took the books and mumbled something to the ground.

“What’s that?”, Victor asked.

“I said”, Yuuri said looking up at Victor through his lashes, “You don’t have to let Phichit bully you into buying more books than you want.”

The Russian shook his head and smiled. “It’s fine! He’s absolutely right, I’ve been shameless to buy one book at the time!” Phichit rewarded him with a big thumbs up. “Besides, I’m not doing it for him, I’m doing it for you!”

And Yuuri looked so cute embarrassed like that, that Victor couldn’t help but grab another random book from the shelf and add it to his pile without even looking at the cover.

They agreed to meet at the icing rink, to allow Victor and Yuri to drop off Makkachin, leaving Yuuri and Phichit time to bike to the ring. When Victor asked for the address, the answer made his mouth fall open in shock.

“You go there by _bike?_ That’s almost fifteen miles!” Yuuri and Phichit shrugged, as if they did this every day. Maybe they _did_. Victor had no idea how far their apartment was.

“It does explain how you’re fit enough to move that horse in the front yard.” Yuuri blushed at that.

“Oh, you mean Victor?” Phichit asked. Yuuri looked mortified. It took a second for Victor to understand, but then it dawned on him. _Yuuri named his plastic silver haired horse after him_. His heart melted.

“His name is Vicchan!”, Yuuri squeaked. “I mean, technically it’s Victor but it’s really not like I named him after you! That would be weird. I’m not weird.” He clasped his hand on his mouth, looking like he regretted every word he just uttered.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Yuuri. I’m very flattered! It’s the nicest compliment I ever received.”

Contrary to Victor’s words, the Japanese man only blushed further.  He looked at Victor miserably, making him feel a little guilty about teasing the man,  though he had meant every word.

“Let’s just go”

-

They went to a beautiful indoor ice-skating rink called Ice Castle, but Victor was skating- well, not terribly, but definitely not smoothly either. In his defence, though, it was only his first time, and skating was _hard_.

Phichit skated gracefully towards him when he saw the silver-haired man struggling, and laughed. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m pretending I can’t skate so Yuuri will teach me. I’m actually very good at this”, Victor lied. He hoped it sounded better than _I actually work very hard for my famous Nikiforov grace and it’s not natural despite how natural I make it look ._

“Seems like your instructor is busy, though”, Phichit not-so-helpfully replied, pointing at Yuuri who only had eyes for Yurio. His nephew, unlike Victor himself, had quickly managed to get the hang of skating in  a straight line without wobbling.

Victor was not at all bitter about that. Nope.

Though it was an admittedly cute sight. Yuuri was leading Yurio around and teaching him little tricks like skating backwards and doing a little pirouette (with help, of course), and both of them grinning excitedly when they succeeded. Yurio looked like he was loving every second on the ice, to Victor’s surprise. He had never really considered letting Yurio do an after-school activity, and Yurio had never asked to either. It might be a good idea, though. Yurio would be able to work off excess energy. Judging by the grin on Yurio’s face, a grin Victor so very rarely saw, the boy wouldn’t mind taking up some skating classes either.

Victor did not really mind that his little nephew had stolen away Yuuri so long as it made them both happy. He sighed ruefully anyway.

His companion chuckled, apparently thinking Victor’s misery amusing. “Tell you what”, he said. “I’ll teach you how to skate a bit without toppling over, and then you can impress Yuuri with your mad skills and grace so that he’ll swoon and fall into your arms.”

Victor’s face brightened immediately and he looked at Phichit with hopeful eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

“For you, but mostly for Yuuri. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being caught by you.” He winked.

-

Phichit was a harsh teacher, but not a bad one. He mercilessly laughed every time Victor wobbled and didn’t give in to Victor’s puppy eyes when he begged him to take a break, but after a couple of turns around the rink, at least he managed not to make a fool out of himself anymore.

The object of his affection was still avoiding him though, perhaps still embarrassed by what had happened earlier. Now that wouldn’t do. After some encouragement from Phichit, Victor carefully skated over to Yuuri to show off his new skills. It was getting  a little easier, and he went a little faster, exhilarated because Yuuri _finally_ looked at him with what looked like a fond smirk on his lips. Victor belatedly realised he hadn’t quite gotten the hang of _stopping_ yet.

_Crash._

Luckily, Victor had had the good sense to lay his hand on the back of Yuuri’s head as they fell, or it might have been a nasty fall for him. As it was, Victor heard a muffled, slightly irritated “ouch” against his shoulder. He quickly scrambled back to let Yuuri breath, and then checked for injuries, mostly as an excuse to touch his face. Yuuri flinched at the touch of his cold gloves, soaked by falling on the ice too much.

“What’s all this”, Yuuri laughed. Victor looked at him sheepishly.

“I got my ice set one you?”

There was a beat of silence, and then Yuuri laughed at the tremendously horrible pun, until Victor was laughing too. It didn’t matter Yurio was standing next to them, rolling his eyes, or that Phichit was taking dozens of pictures, or that whispers surrounded them in an annoying buzz.  All that mattered was him and Yuuri, laughing until tears were in their eyes and their stomach hurt, until their knees ached from kneeling on the hard ice, until the coldness of the ice seeped through their gloves and made them shiver.

After they had finally gotten up, Victor knew that grabbing Yuuri’s hands to rub them between his own would do nothing to help the cold (as his own hands were freezing), nor the rapid beating of his heart (quite the contrary, in fact).

He did it anyway.

He was Victor Nikiforov. He didn’t need excuses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a book by Michael Rosen, Helen Oxenbury and Benji Bower. In case you're wondering, yes Victor sings it to Yurio. 
> 
> You proooobably noticed the other two are not real children's books but inspired by the show ;)
> 
> Do you have any suggestions for other (existing) children's books I can use? What was your favorite when you were little? (I have an idea for some of the future chapters, including the last, but I need more. Please help.)
> 
> Thank you for reading! Thank you even more for leaving a kudo! Thank you a thousand times for leaving a comment!


	5. My Grrrreat Uncle Tiger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! 
> 
> No, this story has not been abandoned,  
> Yes I am a very slow writer.

“Grandpa!” Yuri excitedly twisted in Victor’s arms to stretch his arms out towards his paternal grandfather. It was one of those rare moments Yuri didn’t try to hide his glee or affection. Even after having to endure an hour-long drive, wrangled into his black suit on a too hot day, his eyes had gleamed at the sight of Nikolai Plisetsky’s rowhouse.

The affection was clearly mutual. Nikolai laughed as he lifted Yuri out of Victor’s hold and settled him into his lap. “You’ve grown heavy, Yurochka!” His fingers carded through his grandson’s blond hair. It had gotten longer since the last time they had visited, Victor knew. It almost touched the shoulders of his little suit. Yuri refused to have it cut, though. He said it made him look like a lion.

(Victor tactfully didn’t mention the fact that it actually made him look like a baby fairy. He didn’t think Yuri would have appreciated it.)

Nikolai rolled his wheelchair backwards to leave Victor room to come in and close the front door, then turned it and headed towards his living room. The house was perhaps a bit too small for a wheelchair, but Nikolai refused to move to a nursing home. He insisted Home Care was more than enough to fill his basic needs, as he was still “young and fit as a fiddle”. Moving in with Victor and Yuri was not an option either, because however tempting it was to move in with his grandson, he didn’t want to be a bother. Besides, Nikolai refused to live any further from his son and daughter-in-law.

“How are you holding up with Thomas?” Victor asked, referring to the male nurse that attended Nikolai.

The man grunted. “Terribly. He’s incredibly condescending and treats me like a child. Or a demented old lunatic. He tried to take away my Vodka yesterday, said it was bad for my health. I’ll decide what’s good for my health, and taking away my drinks isn’t going to make my legs any better”

He gestured to the worn leather armchair, urging Victor to have a seat, but the silver-haired man shook his head, insisting he’d be off soon. A fat ginger cat occupied the seat,  anyway. The cat turned its head as if  she knew Victor was talking about him, or perhaps she smelled a whiff of dog hair on Victor’s coat. Whether it was Victor or Makkachin, something had annoyed the cat and it jumped of the couch with a heavy thump and padded away.

Yuri’s eyes lit up as he saw the orange beast. “Yana!” he clambered off his grandfather’s lap and chased the pet to the kitchen. Victor was left alone with Nikolai, a fact he didn’t really feel comfortable by. It left room to talk about things Victor didn’t want to talk about.

An heavy silence fell, there was no use continuing the pretended light-hearted talk. Victor was about to announce he had to leave, but as he had expected, Nikolai rolled his wheelchair a little closer and heaved a heavy sigh.

“Are you sure you’re not coming, Victor?”

Victor absently noted that the older man’s coarse hand was slightly shaking. “I’m sorry, Nikolai. I wish I could, but something’s come up at work. You know how it is.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Victor shook his head. “It’s important, they can’t do without me. It’s a reporting job and they’re short on hands.” He was deliberately vague about what he needed to do, and Nikolai’s pointed stare suggested he saw right through it. It was accusing, it made Victor shiver, but if he’d look away he’d be confronted with the pictures. There were too many damn pictures in this house.

“But surely today, it’s been-“

“A year, yes I know,” Victor snapped. He immediately felt guilty, but Nikolai didn’t call him out on his slip.

“You’ve never visited them, not once.”

Victor cleared his throat. “I’m a busy man.” Nikolai just kept staring at him. “I need the money to care of Yuri. And to pay for your stairlift.” The other man remained silent still. It made Victor fidget. He stared at the spots of water damage on the ceiling. One of them looked like an airplane. Would that he could board the airplane and fly away, far far away.

“You’ll be fine with Yuri, right? He’s always good when he’s with you. And it’s not far. You’ll do fine, the two of you. And you can go for ice-cream afterwards, he likes strawberry, even though he won’t admit it because it’s pink. I’ll pick him up at six.” And before Nikolai could reply (or worse, stare at him accusingly some more), Victor turned away and was out again, squinting at the bright sun.

It was hot, too hot for a day like this. It was as if the sun did its best to burn holes into his skin in the short trip it took to walk from Nikolai’s front door to his car. It was mercifully cool inside the Audi, though, Victor hadn’t been gone long enough to undo the air conditioning’s hard work on the way there. He put his shades on and started the car, pointedly ignoring the cemetery on his left two streets further.

-

Yuri barely spoke to him for a week.

Victor tried. He tried reading him his favourite stories when he went to sleep, tried coaxing him with a new cat plushie, said the boy could all the ice-cream he wanted to just get on his good side again, but Yuri remained sullen.

Well, more sullen than usual, anyway.

When Victor was not trying to buy his nephew’s love, he threw himself into his work. It was an endless routine: wake up, wake Yuri up, prepare breakfast, clean breakfast  from the floor because Yuri had toppled his bowl and Makka was incapable of eating properly, bring Yuri to school, go to work, work, lunch break, more work, collect Yuri and work some more, make dinner, clean the floor again, do even more work, put Yuri to bed with a story, and work until he fell asleep on his keyboard. Repeat.

The only thing that made it a bit more bearable were Yuuri’s texts throughout the day. His “Good morning!” made Victor clean the floor faster, his “Finally finished the platform and walls of the treehouse! It should be done soon”, made Victor work a little harder and his “Good night” made Victor sleep a little more easily.

Yuuri had also helped find them a new preschool, run by a friend of his, and it made his life _so much easier_. Yuuko, the preschool director, was incredibly kind. She never complained when Victor ran a little late in picking up Yuri, or when Yuri scribbled on the walls with crayon, or clambered onto a chair and declared himself king of the jungle and jumped on anyone who came close. Victor, of course, apologised profusely when he heard of this, but Yuuko waved him off. She had three of those brats herself, she said. She could handle his nephew.

And however hard Yuri screamed and shouted at Yuuko’s, he quieted down as soon as Victor came to pick him up. The quiet should be a relief. It wasn’t. Victor told himself it was because the boy had tired himself out during playtime, but it was a terrible excuse and he knew it.

A week after their visit to Nikolai, Yuri was watching Winnie the Pooh while Victor was tapping away on his laptop. He had recently been asked to write a column for a monthly magazine, and if they liked the first sample he wrote for them, he might get a six month contract.

“Uncle Vitya.”

He just couldn’t get the wording right, there was something about the sentence he wrote that sounded forced, and didn’t fit into the flow of his writing. The piece was supposed to be light and humorous, yet Victor couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

“Uncle Vitya!”

Victor’s head snapped up.

“Can we go to bed now?” Yuri mumbled.

Yuri almost never called Victor by name, preferring to merely tug at his sleeve or not addressing him at all. Victor wondered why he didn’t do so now, but then he saw small fingers clutching at his sleeve. Yuri probably _had_ tried.

The DVD had stopped playing, God knows how long ago. Makkachin was already softly snoring on the couch beside him, the cappuccino Victor had made earlier and only half drunk was cold now, the residue foam sticking to the side of the cup. It was eleven o’clock and he hadn’t tucked Yuri in yet. He was a dreadful guardian.

But the column piece was so close to finishing, and the deadline was _so_ close.

But Yuri looked exhausted and close to tears.

Victor saved the document and pushed the laptop aside. He’d finish it after seeing to Yurio.

The man carefully tucked the boy into his sheets until only a tuft of blond hair, his eyes and nose poked out. Yuri had resumed his silent treatment after he had gotten Victor’s attention, and even in the poor light of the night-lamp he could see the blond avoiding to look at his uncle.  A bedtime story wouldn’t be necessary, since Yuri’s eyes already seemed to be struggling to keep open.

“How was Winnie the Pooh?” Yuri shrugged in reply. “What was it about?” Another shrug. Victor was desperate to get an answer, though, especially now that his focus on his work was broken and he could feel terrible guilt replacing the slight annoyance at the interruption.

“Who’s your favourite character?” he asked next, fully expecting Yuri to start a rant about Tigger because Tigger was a tiger and tigers were _awesome_ , according to Yuri’s consistent arguments on the subject.

“Piglet.”

It was barely audible, but still there. Victor’s eyebrows shot skywards. Even with the bad lighting and sheets that covered most of Yuri’s face, Victor could still see the blush trying betray Yurio’s cool façade. Yuri pulled the sheets further to cover his whole face.

It only made Victor understand a little better.

“Do you wanna go visit Yutopia tomorrow?” Slowly, the hair, eyes and nose began to poke out again. There might have been the barely supressed upturned corner of a mouth as well, but it was difficult to see.

“Yeah.”

Victor knew he had been forgiven for the past week.

-

“Yuuri!”

A little ball of gold hair and tiger print barrelled into the surprised Japanese man. Yuuri almost toppled over, but he managed to steady himself with his hand on the counter. His other was holding little Yurio, who had his arms circled around the man’s neck. Immediately Yurio started bombarding him with questions and requests to go skating again or to visit his favourite ice cream parlour together because they sold Oreo ice cream, Yuuri, Oreo ice cream! Yuuri smiled fondly and patiently answered everything Yurio was verbally throwing at him, sounding genuinely excited to go skating again.

It was one of the things Victor liked so much about Yuuri. He never pretended or exaggerated around Yurio, never faked excitement or surprise or pride. Everything was always so  genuine when it came to Yuuri, something that was clearly appreciated by Yurio as well.

Victor felt warmth spreading through his body as he watched the scene. Ever since they went to the rink and Yuuri had taught Yurio to skate a little, they got on like a house on fire. His two favourite boys chattered about Yurio’s new favourite book _My Great Uncle Tiger_ , and the boy complained he wished _his_ uncle was a great tiger. Victor felt mildly insulted. He began to suspect his own nephew liked Yuuri better than he like his own uncle. But then again, he couldn’t really blame him.

In the end Yurio’s restlessness and desire to go play in the garden became too big, and Yuuri put him down so he could go out and play. Victor watched delighted as Yuuri’s soft expression turn towards Victor. But there was also some kind of stiffness and reserve in his posture.

“It’s been a while. I thought you had stopped coming for good.”

“It’d never!” And though it sounded overdramatic and exaggerated, Victor was almost scared of how true those words were. He was in so deep. “It’s been busy,” he explained. “Half he staff seemed to have come down with the flue, so I had to work overtime doing horrible little jobs I thought I got rid of long ago.”

“I’m sorry.” Yuuri _did_ seem sorry, but also less tense then before. He looked like he wanted to say something else or perhaps touch him in comfort. Victor pouted to make himself look even more miserable and encourage Yuuri to do the latter. He didn’t.

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask, how did they like that column piece you told me about?”, Yuuri asked instead.

Victor sighed. “Well they liked it, for sure. They asked me to write a monthly two-page spread.”

Yuuri’s face lit up. “That’s great!”

“I refused, though.” At Yuuri’s obvious look of confusion, Victor added “I have so little time as it is. I barely get to spend time with Yurio and I hate it. Besides, it wasn’t really a topic I like doing either.”

“What was it about?”

“How I manage to stay so beautiful, what products I use for my face and hair. Fashion advice and such.”

Yuuri arched an eyebrow. “For real?”

“No, that wouldn’t have been amazing, I’d never have refused that.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes. “To think I even missed you.”

Victor’s heart started beating wildly at once. He had hoped and suspected Yuuri had missed him, especially after he mentioned it had been a while since Victor visited. To hear confirmation made something in his belly twist and turn delightfully. He couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice when he answered. “You missed me?!”

“Mostly your wallet”, was Yuuri’s dry reply.

Victor pretended to be horrified for a short moment, but he wasn’t really wounded at all, because _mostly_ wasn’t _only_.  And anyway, Yuuri’s bright blush suggested he missed a lot more than just Victor’s wallet.

“How about me and my wallet take you out for a date?”

Both men stared at each other in shock. It hadn’t meant to come out of Victor’s mouth, it just… did. He had been waiting to ask, waiting for- for what, exactly? He’d never waited this long to actively chase something or someone he wanted. Perhaps he had been enjoying the slow pacing, the quiet getting to know each other without any obligations. The _ease_ of it all, how everything just happened without having to think or try too hard. His brain was starting to crash at a rapid pace as Yuuri blinked up at him.

“Who, me?”

And really, what kind of question was that? There was nobody else in the shop, and even if there were, how could Victor possibly have wanted to go out with anyone whose face did not scrunch up adorably when drinking anything with bubbles, who didn’t get that far away drooly look when thinking about Katsudon, who was so strong Victor wasn’t even surprised to find Vicchan on the _roof_ that day. How could Victor have wanted to date anyone who wasn’t _Yuuri_ ?

“Yes, you.”

“On a _date_ date?”

“If your definition of a date date is to do romantic stuff without Yurio, just the two of us, outside of the bookshop, while flirting and maybe cuddling and then maybe at the end I kiss you on your doorstep, then yes, I would like to go on a date date with you.”

Yuuri had burried his head inside his hands in a poor attempt to hide his redness while making some distressed noises.

“Is that a yes?”, Victor asked, chuckling nervously. The mumbling Yuuri emitted was nowhere near audible.

“Yuuri?”

“Yes!”, The other man answered clearly as he lifted his head. Victor felt like he could fly.

“Yes?”

“Yes!”

Victor grinned stupidly.

And Yuuri, bright red, grinned back.

 

-

It occurred to Victor, as they got home, that asking for a date would mean _planning_ a date. He did not think this through.

-

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Grrrreat Uncle Tiger is a book by James Riordan and Alex Ayliffe. It was suggested by user iceprinceofbelair, to whom I am eternally greatful cuz damn, that book fits here perfectly.
> 
> To all the other lovely people who suggested books: Thank you so much, I might still use them in the future. 
> 
> To anyone else who has been so kind as to kudo, comment, bookmark, or even only read, thank you as well! You are the reason this story hasn't been abandoned yet.


	6. Where the Wild Things Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so long, it's probably the longest I've ever written. Didn't want to cut it in two, though. 
> 
> WARNING: the fluff in this chapter is STRONG. Seriously, my fingers were sticking to the keyboard from all the sugary sweetness that was leaking out.

Victor had prided himself on knowing Yuuri quite well. After all, they had been talking and flirting _a lot_ for the past few weeks. The flirting might have come mainly from Victor’s side, perhaps, but he did get a positive reaction. That is, if you can count furiously blushing and stammering as a positive reaction, which Victor _did._ It wasn’t flat out refusing or recoiling for one thing, and Yuuri looked absolutely adorable blushing for another.

Yet, as Victor frantically flipped between twelve different tabs on his computer, all titled _15 ideal dates_ or _Where to go on Your First Date_ or _Top 50 Amazing First Date Ideas to Wow Your date!_ , he realised he had no idea what he was doing and knew way too little about Yuuri anyway.

Should he take him to the movies? But then, Victor didn’t know what kind of movies Yuuri liked. He might have once thought Yuuri’s genre would be cute animated movies with lots of animals or mushy romcoms (which Victor wouldn’t have minded. At all.), but then he had also thought Yuuri’s taste in music would be Disney songs. Until he caught the man singing _Anaconda_ while dusting the shelves. Victor had thanked all the lucky stars that Yuuri hadn’t heard the bells ringing over the sound of his earphones blasting the music, or he might never have known the sight of Yuuri swinging his hips lewdly right before Victor’s eyes.

So who knew, maybe Yuuri would get bored to death watching something cheesy. Going for something spicy might be a little too risky for a first date, though. And he didn’t think he himself would survive two hours of Fifty Shades Darker’s toe-curling acting and even worse dialogue. Horror then? While the thought of Yuuri clutching his arm in fright admittedly excited him, Victor didn’t want to traumatise the man.

And anyway, taking someone to see a movie was terribly cliché and they wouldn’t even be able to talk during the movie.

No, movie was a bad idea.

Ice skating then? But they’d already done that, Victor didn’t want to give the impression of being too lazy to come up with ideas. Besides, Yurio would never forgive him for going ice skating without him.

Maybe a hot air balloon ride? That was definitely original. But what if Yuuri was afraid of heights?

Wine tasting? Did Yuuri even drink alcohol?

Of course it occurred to him that he could just _ask_ Yuuri whether he’d like all those things, but Victor was absolutely terrible at being subtle and he didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

There was only one thing left to do.

-

“Mila, I need your help.” He tried to keep the whine out of his voice, but he probably wasn’t very successful, seeing the unimpressed look on Mila’s face. She appeared to be sitting crossed-legged on the bed in front of her computer, hair tousled and a too big t-shirt hanging loosely from a shoulder, leaving the other bare.

“What is it? I’ve got-“ her eyes flickered quickly towards something outside the screen “- _things_ to take care of.”

“What do I do on a first date?”

 “Oh my god, Victor. I can’t believe everyone thinks you’re a player.”

He supposed it did sound stupid. It wasn’t as if he’d never been on first dates, far from it.  Yet-

“I _am._ I mean, I _was._ I just want to get it right. Blow off his cute polka dot socks, you know?”

“You’re in it deep, aren’t you?” It was a rhetorical question.

“Please help.”

“How about Netflix and chill?”, she suggested, taking pity on him.

“That’s not even going to blow off plain black socks.”

“Why not? It worked for me.”

“Hell yeah!” a voice sounded from somewhere off-screen.

“Is that Sara?” Mila’s predatory grin was answer enough.  “You know what; I’ll leave you to it. Have fun with your conquest.”

“Cheers. Good luck with your date, Vitya!”

“Yeah. Sure.” It didn’t mean to come out as miserable as it did.

-

It took less than ten seconds to confirm that asking Chris for suggestions was a terrible idea.

-

“Is Yuuri there?”

Phichit blinked up at him. It was 11 am, yet he lookex like he only just crawled out of bed. There was a trail of dried drool at the corner of his half-open mouth, dark circles under his eyes and a big coffee stain on his shirt.

“Yuuri?”  Phichit’s voice sounded creakily through the speakers.  Perhaps he had a crappy microphone. Or Victor had woken him up and the student _had_ just crawled out of bed. The Thai boy looked around as if he had to think for a moment.

“Nope, sorry, he’s out buying celebratory bagels. I finished my thesis.” He mumbled something that might have been “need to sleep for a week” or maybe “need to pee and I reek.”

Both seemed plausible.

 “Congrats! “ Victor beamed. Phichit raised a thumb while yawning loudly. Victor remembered how hellish college had been for him as well. Lack of sleep, stressing over deadlines, cramped fingers from furiously typing on the computer.

Well. Perhaps not much had changed after all.

Victor thought he’d give the other guy some time make some instant coffee and properly wake up, so instead he focused on the wall the webcam faced. It was the first glimpse he got to see of Yuuri and Phichit’s apartment, so it was hard to quell his curiosity.

There was only little he could see from the grainy camera quality of a tiny corner in a small apartment, but he thought he could make out some pictures and drawings sticking to the wall with sellotape as not to damage the wall.  One picture showed Yuuri with Phichit, and there was one with what seemed to be his family, and some pictures of Phichit with other people Victor didn’t recognise. There were drawings too, beautiful ones of fantastical sceneries and animals, and a stunning portrait of-

Victor squinted. Was that…?

At that moment Phichit plopped down in front of the camera again, partially obscuring Victor’s view of the drawing. “Ahhh”, Phichit sighed. “Much better.”

“Phichit?” Victor asked, momentarily distracted from his quest to find the perfect date for Yuuri. Phichit hummed above his mug in answer.

“Is that a drawing of me?”

Phichit’s eyes snapped up and he quickly moved a few inches to the left in order to completely obscure Victor’s view of the drawing.

“No? It’s some other guy with silver hair that Yuuri knows.“

“So you mean Yuuri drew it?”

“eeeeeeerrrrr.”

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely stunning!”

At this, Phichit slammed his fist on the desk with much more force than a half-dead college student should be able to muster. “Right?! I keep telling him that but he won’t believe me. You have no idea how hard I had to struggle to get permission to hang these drawings up, especially this one. I was all like ‘But Yuuri! It’s magnificent!’ and he’d be like ‘it’s not, it’s embarrassing! And anyway, I hardly managed to capture the perfect smooth curve of Victor’s jawline!’”

“Aha! So it _is_ a drawing of me!”

“I should not have said that.”

But Victor was too busy hugging his pillow and squealing like a teenage girl who just discovered her idol had replied her tweet with a winking kissy emoji. Makkachin looked up at the high-pitched sound he was making and cocked her head in confusion. Yurio snarled at him.

“So what did you call for anyway?” Phichit asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Did you want Yuuri? He’ll be back in a bit.”

“No, I don’t want Yuuri!” Victor blurted quickly, waving his arms. Phichit raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I _do_ want Yuuri, very much so!  I mean I don’t want him to find out! I wanted to ask you for advice!” Victor finally managed to get out.

“Advice? I’m a great advice-giver; you’ve come to the right place. Shoot.”

So Victor explained the situation quickly and ended with begging the dark-skinned boy to help him.  When he finished, Victor gave Phichit a moment to think.

“Well I do know the answers to the questions you have about Yuuri,” he answered eventually. Victor knew better than to get excited. Instead, he narrowed his eyes.

“But? It sounds like there’s a but coming.”

“Yep, and not the fun kind either!” He winked. “But I’m not giving you the answers. Because that would be cheating. I suggest you try to find those answers on your own.”

“I can’t just ask him if he likes hot air balloons! He’d see right through that!”

“Ok, first of all, have you met Yuuri? You might be as subtle as blinking Christmas lights on a hot summer day, but Yuuri is as oblivious as a damn rock! How long did it take him to catch on that you were flirting with him? Even now, after you explicitly asked him on a romantic date, he still sometimes asks me if he might have just misinterpreted your intentions.”

He did? Victor would have to rectify that on their date. But Phichit did have a point. Yuuri might not even notice if Victor asked him what his ideal date would be. Still, it was too risky to take a chance.

“Secondly,” Phichit continued, “I only meant that you should find out those answers in your own time, without the immediate intention of doing something with the answers.”

“Then, what am I supposed to do?”

“You might want to consider concentrating one the things you _do_ know he likes, rather than things he might not like.”

“Like what?”

“Well,” Phichit sighed. He must have the patience of a saint, putting up with both Yuuri _and_ Victor’s obliviousness. “What are you absolutely certain of that he likes?”

Victor didn’t have to think long about the answer to that one. “Katsudon. And poodles. And goats.” When Yuuri talks about those, his eyes lit up and he starts to ramble, as if he forgets to be a little nervous around Victor. Victor’s heart leaped at those moments.

“There you go!” Phichit exclaimed.

“There I go?” Victor echoed confusedly.

“There you go,” Phichit nodded.

There was a knock on the door on Phichit’s side, and they promptly hung up on each other out of fear to be discovered by Yuuri. Victor stared at his screen for a few seconds, even more confused than he was before the conversation.

Then an idea sprung from somewhere in the back of his mind and his face brightened.

“There I go!”

There was a short _pling_ from his computer.

 **phichit+chu:** You probably don’t need advice for what you should wear but I’m gonna do it anyway: wear that babyblue t-shirt with a V-neck. You wore it in an Instagram pic once, Yuuri was drooling for days.

Phichit was right. Victor _didn’t_ need fashion advice, thank you very much. But it was appreciated anyway, since it was also indirect advice from Yuuri.

-

When Yuuri opened the door to his apartment, Victor took one look at his date and realised there was an alternative motive to Phichit’s advice. Clad in a baby blue t-shirt with a V-neck and rolled up sleeves on that hot spring day, Yuuri’s outfit matched Victor’s perfectly.

Well, not perfectly. Victor’s shirt was a little faded and had once shrunk in the wash from those days he barely even knew how to turn on the washing machine, so it clung to his body in a way that would make Chris proud. He also wore light grey pants while Yuuri wore beige ones.

They looked like one of those cheesy, clingy couples that matched their outfits on purpose, shared the same ice-cream cone and called each other “Pumpkin” or “Sugar Plum”.

Victor absolutely loved it.

“You look perfect,” he said, and the way Yuuri stood there, a bit unsure, biting his lip and seemingly fighting the urge to look away, his glasses sliding half-down, the material of his shirt accentuating his collarbones and biceps, Victor meant every word.

Yuuri gulped. “Thanks. You look nice as well.”

The shy answer made Victor huff and lean in close to invade Yuuri’s personal space. “Just nice?” he teased.

Only, Yuuri answered in a way Victor never expected him to. Rather than blushing and turning away, Victor’s teasing triggered his own playfulness. He looked Victor defiantly in the eye. “Yes. Just nice.”

The way Yuuri could surprise him with sudden playfulness never failed to make Victor’s heart skip a beat, and now too, he felt a familiar leap in his chest. He also noted with a jolt that Yuuri let Victor come much closer now without flinching or backing away. He didn’t look forced to endure it either; rather, he leaned in even closer until their noses almost bumped.

In the end, it was Victor who had to turn away and hide a blush. Just this once, he’d let Yuuri win. He masked his nervousness with a cough inside his fist.

“Let’s go, shall we? Makka’s waiting in the car.”

“You brought Makka?” Yuuri gasped in disbelief. Suddenly Victor didn’t feel so sure about that decision. He wouldn’t have brought his dog to most of his previous dates, but both Makkachin and Yuuri always seemed to brighten when they saw each other. He thought Yuuri wouldn’t mind his dog tagging along.

“Is that okay? I’m sorry, I can-“

Except he couldn’t, it was too late find a dog sitter now. Victor’s mild panic was interrupted by Yuuri quickly shaking his hands to grab Victor’s attention.

“No! It’s fine, it’s fine! I’m happy she’s coming with us!”

Victor searched Yuuri for any insincerity his face might show, but Yuuri looked genuinely happy Makkachin would be joining him. Satisfied, Victor led Yuuri to the car and opened the passenger door for the raven to get in.

Once Victor settled behind the wheel and started the car, Yuuri finally asked where they were going.

“It’s a secret,” Victor replied with a wink.

“Well it must be somewhere we can bring Makkachin, or you wouldn’t have brought her,” Yuuri pondered.

“True. I’m not letting her sit inside the car all afternoon.”

“Can I ask yes or no questions and try to guess?”

“Sure!” It wasn’t like Yuuri would ever guess anyway.

“Does it have something to do with animals?”

Victor paled. “I refuse to answer any more questions.” A quick flicker of his eyes to the passenger seat confirmed that Yuuri was wearing the smug look Victor feared he was wearing.

-

“Tadaa!” Victor beamed at Yuuri as he pulled up the car and put it in park mode. Makkachin yipped in equal excitement.

“You brought me… to a kid’s farm?”

Victor nodded with a grin.

“Without your kid?”

Victor’s smile faltered. “Well if you put it like that…”

Yuuri’s shoulders started shaking. For a short, excruciating moment Victor thought he completely messed up and Yuuri had started crying, and wondered if he should just drive away, yell “APRIL’S FOOL” even though it was nearing June and head towards the cinema anyway, originality be damned. But then he realised Yuuri wasn’t crying at all, he was shaking with laughter.

That was a good sign, right? Right?

Victor started nervously chuckling, but then Yuuri’s giggles became louder and so did Victor’s and soon both of them were doubled over with laughter.

“In my defence,” Victor started as he wiped tears out of his eyes, finally calmed down enough to manage to talk, “Yurio would have hated this. He’d much rather be with his grandpa and the ginger cat like he is now, than be surrounded by obnoxious happy other children and goats. I even asked him to make sure.”

“Oh, I believe you,” said Yuuri. “It’s just-“but then he started giggling again and Victor did too and they were back to square one.

It took them a while to finally get their act together and get out of the car, Makkachin all the while whining to be let out. As Victor took her leach in one hand, his other itched to be offered to Yuuri. But blatantly offering a hand might make Yuuri feel obligated to take it, rather than actually wanting it, so Victor held back.

It was clear that adults on a date were not the target audience of the place, from the big wooden arch with the words “Uncle Bill’s Petting Farm” , painted with bright cartoon animals through which they entered the farm, to the confused ticket vendor who subtly leaned out of his box to see where their kid was, to the pony rides and playing ground.

Yet Victor couldn’t bring himself to regret his decision when he saw how delighted Yuuri was as they admired the four big Clysdale horses grazing in the meadows, petted the Shetland ponies and visited the bunny and guinea pig barn to fawn over small balls of fluff.

They bought a small plastic bag with food for the goats and sheep, and laughed as they stormed towards the food. Yuuri encouraged Victor to pet the ram still wearing his winter coat, but the spiralling horns looked intimidating and he hesitated. Yuuri would take none of that, though.

He grabbed Victor’s hand and gently laid it on the course wool. The wool felt much rougher than he had expected, not at all like a soft fluffy cloud it was always drawn as in the pictures.

(At least, he noticed this once he had calmed down enough to concentrate on anything beyond the wheezing in his ears, the beating of his heart and the tingling of his hand)

(Even as they stopped petting the ram, Yuuri didn’t let go of his hand)

Makkachin had to wait for them outside while they fed and petted the goats and sheep as not to scare the animals, but Makkachin seemed intent on playing with them rather than scaring them. She hopped and bounced outside the fence trying to catch the attention of the goats. One of them considered it a capital offence to be mocked as such, and pushed his horns against the fence towards in challenge.

“Fight me”, the goat said.

(At least, that’s what it looked like what he was saying. Not like Victor knew Goat language. Goatish? Bleatish?)

They sat against a tree beside a lake afterwards, enjoying the sun warming their skin and the breeze in their hair, watching Makkachin chase the ducks into the water and causing ripples on the reflective surface.

Tentatively, like testing the water temperature with a single toe, Yuuri laid his head against Victor’s shoulder, almost pulled back again, but Victor refused to let him. Instead, he shifted them until he had Yuuri wrapped between his legs in front of him, guiding Yuuri’s back gently against his chest.

For a moment, Yuuri stiffened, but then he shivered and settled into Victor’s arms, and Victor let out a breath in relief.

Not just his left hand tingled now. Everything that touched a piece of Yuuri reacted:  his chest, his arms, his neck where it was tickled by raven hair.

Victor felt such a strong wave of affection it overwhelmed him, it swelled and grew until he felt like he was bursting at the seams. He hoped- no, he desperately _needed_ Yuuri to feel it, to feel the rapid beating of Victor’s heart, the electricity as he curled his fingers around Yuuri’s, the love bleeding from his lips as Victor gave a tentative, barely-even -there kiss on Yuuri’s raven crown.

Love?

Surely this was more than mere affection.

Was it love, though?

He wasn’t sure.

But he was falling.

-

Victor took Yuuri for Katsudon afterwards, of course.

( _Of course_ )

(He’d vowed to himself, hadn’t he? That he’d eat katsudon with him, to watch Yuuri gobble it up. How had he forgotten?)

Victor had taken pains to find a place that served the dish _and_ allowed dogs inside. But it was worth it. Both to watch Yuuri for once let all his guards down, and to enjoy the dish himself.

 _Having food all over his face should look ridiculous, should throw him off_ , Victor thought as he watched crumbs and rice stick to Yuuri’s chin. And yet all he wanted to do was lean forward and kiss it away. If katsudon tastes fantastic now, how would it taste on Yuuri’s chin, his lips?

But he didn’t have the chance to find out, because suddenly Yuuri’s tongue darted out to lick the food remnants off himself. His eyes caught Victor’s. Daringly.

Victor had felt weak before. But he never enjoyed it as much as he did then.

After katsudon he only had one more thing planned out for their date, and as little as he wanted the evening to end, he couldn’t help but look forward to the moment he’d kiss Yuuri goodbye on his doorstep. He would ask him first if he was allowed, and Yuuri, being swept off his feet by the amazing date they’d just had, wouldn’t even hesitate to say yes. It would be brief, but sweet. No need to rush, there’d be days, months, years to kiss. It’d be barely more than a peck, just enough to make Yuuri’s eye glaze over.

Of course, that’s not what happened.

Victor was driving Yuuri home when their conversation was interrupted by a gasp from Yuuri.

“What, what is it?” Victor hurried to ask, concern seeping through his voice. Yuuri grabbed at his pockets and clearly started  to panic, so Victor pulled over and grabbed Yuuri’s hand to stop him from frantically tearing at his pants.

“Calm down Yuuri, you’re fine. Tell me what’s the matter.”

“Keys! I forgot my keys!”

Victor let out a breath in relief. “That’s okay, isn’t it? It’s not that late yet, we can ask Phichit to open the door, we won’t even have to wake him up.”

“Phi- Phichit’s not home, he was going somewhere tonight- I don’t know where!”

“It’s no use panicking over this. It’s just a key, we’ll be fine.” Victor couldn’t help but let a bit of the irritation he felt slip through his voice. He didn’t understand why Yuuri was panicking. “You can come over to my place, worse comes to worst.”

This had Yuuri panicking even more. He shook his head and reached for his phone with trembling hands. He dialled a number and waited for the recipient to pick up. Victor felt put-off at his suggestion being brushed away, and the irritation only grew.

“Phichit?” Yuuri said with trembling voice. “I- where are you, I forgot my keys.”  Phichit answered something Victor couldn’t hear, and then Yuuri hissed “this isn’t Pride and Prejudice, Phichit, I can’t just-“his eyes flickered to Victor “ _impose”._

He turned away then and almost whispered into his phone, shielded away as though he didn’t really want Victor to hear. Victor heard anyway.

“I’ve never- I’ve never _done_ this before.”

_Oh._

And suddenly Victor’s annoyance melted like snow in the sun. The reluctance Yuuri had towards coming to his house was nothing personal, Yuuri was afraid of what might happen. Victor was almost certain he could assure Yuuri that nothing would, he’d sleep on his couch while Yuuri could sleep in the bed.

But Victor had tested enough of Yuuri’s boundaries that day, and would probably do best not to push it. Even if Yuuri would let him, even if nothing was going to happen, it was better to let time run its course, let Yuuri feel comfortable and lead the way.

Yuuri hung up the phone with trembling hands but Victor caught them in his and squeezed. “Where is Phichit? I can drive to where he is and you can borrow his keys.”

Yuuri shook his head. “He’s at Leo’s, the other side of the city.”

“What about spare keys? Do you have any lying under your doormat?” Victor knew _he_ had. The amount of times he lost his keys was shameful. He’d even lost his spare keys once. Or twice.

Yuuri’s eyes lit up briefly but were soon replaced by a thoughtful expression. “I do, it’s just-“

Sensing his hesitation, Victor nudged him in encouragement.

“It’s at Yutopia.”

“Then we’ll go to Yutopia!”

 Yuuri’s eyes bulged. “Are you sure?”

“Of course! I’ll get to spend more time with my favourite book seller,” Victor replied with a wink.

Yuuri seemed to have relaxed a bit, for which Victor felt grateful. “How many book sellers do you know?” he asked cheekily.

Victor had to laugh. “Just the one. But even if I knew more, you’d still be my favourite.”

Yuuri smiled, and it was with no small amount of relief that Victor noticed the tension had dropped tenfold. With a final squeeze, he let go of Yuuri’s hand and reignited the car.  

-

Finding Yutopia in broad daylight was a challenge. Finding it in the dark was damn near impossible.

“Are you sure we’re still going the right way?” Victor asked for the umpteenth time. There was a short pause.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“I know this place like the back of my hand.”

“You really should consider direction arrows, though.”

“Sure, Victor.”

“Will you be able to get in the shop, if you don’t have keys?”

“I never lock up Yutopia.”

“What?! Do you like having burglars over for tea?”

“It’s not like anyone would go out of their way to steal children’s books. And I always empty the register.”

“What about the spare key to your apartment?”

Yuuri smirked.

“It’s hidden somewhere no one would look.”

-

It wasn’t until Victor pulled up at the parking lot that his heart was at ease. At least for a while. They’d still have to get back.

It had been bright and sunny all day, but now that they were out in the clearing, soft drops of rain started to patter on the car. Yuuri turned to Victor, his hand already on the door handle to get out.

“I’ll be right back”, and just like that, he was gone. In the rain. Without a coat or an umbrella.

But it was only a drizzle.

Until it wasn’t.

All at once, it was like the gates of heaven had opened up to shower the world in punishment for enjoying the sunshine. It only took seconds for Victor to grab the umbrella and blanket from the back seat, pat Makka on the head and ask her to stay put, and run out to follow Yuuri. Even with the umbrella and semi-coverage of the foliage overhead, Victor was soaked by the time he arrived at Yutopia’s front door. That is, he almost arrived at the front door, but then the wet wooden flooring of the porch made him loose his grip and fall on his ass.

Being around a four-year-old all the time had conditioned him to watch his language, so instead of releasing a string of Russian curses he would have a year ago, he yelled “FUDGE” and “HOLY CHEESECAKE” until Yuuri opened the door and found him. For a short moment he just stood there looking at a soaked Victor  who was sitting on the ground, holding a soaked blanket and was too baffled to move.

 “What are you doing here?” he asked, finally shaking himself out of his reverie and helping Victor up.

“Bringing you a blanket and umbrella to keep you warm and dry. I fell,” Victor explained. The light coming through the slightly open front door illuminated the smirk Yuuri desperately tried to hide.

They squeezed inside.

Squeezed, because there was a plastic horse butt barring their way.

“Ummm”, Victor said eloquently, but Yuuri just ushered him past Vicchan towards the wall with the fireplace, positioned him in front of it and lit the fire.  

It wasn’t just Vicchan that was inside. The floor was littered with all the plastic figures that _should_ be in the garden, from the satanic bunnies to the grumpy garden gnomes.

“So,” Victor started, as Yuuri was hanging up the wet blanket against the shelved walls, pinning it down on each corner with some books.

“I suppose your plan was to let the burglars trip and break their necks?”

Yuuri chuckled nervously.

“That too.”

But Victor waits for further explanation, so he remains silent. Even though Yuuri had secured the blanket by then, he hesitated to turn around.

“I-“

Victor didn’t need Yuuri to turn around to know he was blushing, though. He had become so familiar with the flush of red he could already picture it.

“I always think they might get cold at night. The animals, I mean. Not the burglars.”

Slowly the raven-haired man turned around to gauge Victor’s reaction, clearly nervous he’d be mocked.

Victor just stared.

And maybe had an epiphany as well.

He stood there, in a dimly lit book shop surrounded by plastic animals and toasting his sore butt at the fire; he stood staring, realising Yuuri probably named all his figurines, and sheltered them from wind and rain during the night, and gave them a new spot each day so they had new patches of grass to graze or new sights to see.

And Victor _knew._

He was going to marry this man.

It only took him three long stride and one quick stumble over a rabbit until he reached Yuuri, grabbed his head by his temples and smashed their mouths together.

Worry that the kiss was unwanted lasted only for a moment because soon Yuuri was responding enthusiastically.

Breath caught in Victor’s throat and warmth spread from his chest to his very fingertips, warming him in a way the blazing fire in the hearth never could.

Noses bumped. Teeth clashed.

It was a far cry from the gentle peck Victor had planned in his head.

(And _yet_ )

(It was perfect)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The book "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak doesn't actually feature in this chapter, just borrowed its title. Thought it was funny because of the irony. 
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos make my heart flutter, so thank you for those ^^
> 
> it's almost 2 am I need sleep


	7. The Tiger Who Came to Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously in this story: 
> 
> Victor is Yurio's uncle and single parent. He discovers books are the best way to put his little nephew to sleep and meets Yuuri, the owner of a magical children's bookstore. In the last chapter, Victor and Yuuri went on a date. They ended up stranded at Yutopia, between Yuuri's plastic animals, rain pouring outside. When Yuuri admits he fears the plastic animals get cold at night, Victor kisses him, because he's soppy like that. 
> 
> In this chapter, we'll dive deeper into Victor and Yuuri's relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not the end of July. I'm so sorry. Stuff happened?
> 
> And a happy new year? *hides*

That day, after their first date, after that first kiss, they had decided to stay until it stopped raining. Yuuri had fallen asleep with his head on Victor’s shoulder despite the bookshelves digging into their backs. Victor had watched the light of the flames in the fireplace flicker on his soft cheeks and how his drool glistened. He wanted to pull the raven over his lap and pepper him with kisses on the crown of his head, the corner of his lips, the eyelids covering his soft eyes.

He  whispered sweet nothings into his hair instead, and his breath made a strand of Yuuri’s hair flutter and tickle Victor’s nose. He was lucky he didn’t sneeze, he didn’t want to get snot all over his boyfriend’s hair.

Boyfriend?

Victor hoped so. Now that he knew how Yuuri kissed, he didn’t think he could ever go back to a life where he _couldn’t_ kiss Yuuri on a whim.

Despite these thoughts raging through his head and the watchful gazes of plastic eyes flickering ominously, Victor eventually fell asleep as well. It was only hours later he woke up, when the clouds had cleared and it had passed midnight. Yuuri was still drowsy with sleep so Victor half-carried him to the car and brought him home.

There was a goodbye kiss on the porch after all. On Yuuri’s hand, on his forehead and finally, as Yuuri got tired of teasing and  took matters into his own hands, a searing kiss on the mouth.

He almost asked if Yuuri couldn’t stay over anyway. He almost invited himself into Yuuri’s apartment so he could kiss that teasing smirk of his.

But Victor knew better than to push his luck, and he reluctantly drew away and headed home.

There was no need to rush, they had time.

_-_

Over the next few days, Victor was so consumed by his happiness that he could barely think of anything else. He felt unstoppable, and barely felt Yakov swatting his head and telling him to stop being so distracted. His grin was brighter than ever before, stretching over his face almost painfully wide. Judging by the look of mild concern on Mila’s face, Victor must have looked deranged.

If she only knew how he felt! Everything was perfect, and if it wasn’t, it wasn’t important, because you only had to concentrate on the good things in life. _That_ was the key to being happy.

With this philosophy in mind, he headed for Yuuko’s to pick up his bratty nephew. Victor had sent a text earlier, asking whether he could call his cute _boyfriend_ later that day.  Just when he entered the preschool building he received a reply from Yuuri, who said he was _looking forward to it._ After that, not even Yurio’s struggling and screaming could keep the smile off Victor’s face.

-

Victor made it his mission in life to make plans with Yuuri as many times as he could. They would go for a walk at the dog beach with Makkachin, or go laser shooting, only to discover Victor couldn’t possibly aim a gun at his boyfriend and consequently made his team lose horribly. They’d go out to eat frequently as well, since both of them were foodies but neither could really cook well.

But they didn’t want to leave Yuri alone too much, so they often just stayed home as well, and sometimes even tried to cook. Victor only really knew how to bake an egg or microwave instant noodles, so making actual food was always an adventure.

One day they felt particularly daring and decided to make Katsudon. Yuuri had tried to pry his mother for the recipe, but as she was convinced Yuuri would stop visiting his parents once he got hold of that, she refused. They were forced to resort to google and choose one that Yuuri thought looked most like the one his mother made.

Yuuri was wearing an apron Phichit had given him as a gift and that said “Katsudorable”. A pile of cooking supplies surrounded him, curtesy of Victor, who had bought them in order to pretend his kitchen was fully equipped and he knew _something_ of cooking.

He didn’t.

Victor had no idea how chopping could take this long if you didn’t want to accidentally cut a finger off, cooking programs always made it seem so easy, and in the Sims you even started juggling with knifes a few points up in the cooking skill. Victor had made enough scrambled eggs to earn a few of those skill points, right?

But however slow the process turned out to be, the domesticity of cooking with Yuuri more than made up for it. Yuuri at least knew how to chop vegetables by helping out his mother with her cooking when he was young, so the Japanese gave Victor some tips on using a knife the correct way. Tips, that would have been helpful, if it weren’t for the fact that Victor purposefully wasn’t really listening. Luckily he got what he wished for: Yuuri taking Victors hands into his own and guiding him through the process. 

But despite Yuuri’s careful guidance, a few of the ingredients they had bought didn’t make it into the dish. The seaweed, because neither Yurio nor Victor like the taste of it, so Yuuri rolled his eyes but stored them for another time anyway. The onions didn’t make it either, because Yuuri started bawling while chopping them. Victor threw the evil food in the trashcan in a heartbeat like the valiant knight he was, and vowed to vanquish all food that made his Yuuri cry.

Half of the eggs had perished in the process of making the food, as well. Victor tried to pour them over the tonkatsu, but Yurio had chosen that exact moment to decide _Frozen_ did not have enough cats. A loud scream was all the warning Victor got before the boy crashed into him. In a desperate attempt to stay balanced and not drop the bowl of eggs, he steadied himself with his hand on the nearest surface.

Which happened to be the heated stove.

Victor yelped, pulled back, and spilled half of the eggs on the kitchen floor.

Yuuri moved with the speed and determination of someone who had experience with kids who hurt themselves on a regular basis. He opened the tap, checked the temperature, and held Victor’s under the ice cold water before he could say “ouch”.

It was kind of hot. In a sexy way, not in a stove way.

“Are you okay?” Yuuri’s worried voice made Victor look up from where he had been looking at Yuuri’s strong arms. They were bared by rolled up sleeves and were holding Victor’s wrist. His hand didn’t hurt that much. The palm had just grazed the hot surface and he had pulled away right after.

“Umm” he said eloquently.

“Uncle Vitya, I’m hungry!” Victor turned his head to look at the little pouting child that was staring up at him. It looked like he didn’t understand what had happened, or perhaps he just didn’t care his uncle had gotten hurt. Victor ruffled the boy’s head with his free hand.

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, Yoruchka. Go finish your movie while Yuuri and I finish up.”

There was a strange look on Yuuri’s face as Victor dried his hand and pecked Yuuri quickly on the nose in thanks. Perhaps Yuuri thought Victor spoiled Yurio too much. But that was what parents should do. They should love their kid and give them room to grow. Yuuri would understand when he became a parent himself.

“Kiss it better?” Victor asked instead, waving his burnt hand. Yuuri complied with a soft smile.

-

 **[You]:** I should go, Yuuko called. Apparently he started hitting kids with his copy of _The Tiger who Came to Tea._ I’ll probably have to drag him away screaming.

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **L

 **[You]:** Are you sad that I’m leaving or that Yurio is going wild again?

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **Both.

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **I’d say “go get ‘em, tiger” but “go get the tiger” would probably be more fitting.

 **[You]:** I feel like I should be mildly insulted that you don’t think of me as a tiger. I can be a tiger! Rawr!  (=^･ω･^=)

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **I consider you more  of a dog person.

 **[You]:** That’s true! Awww you know me so well! <3

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **3<

 **[You]:** …

 **[You]:** what

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **Oh no, I messed up!

 **[You]:** Is that a farting butt?

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **It was supposed to be a heart!

 **[My Beautiful Boyfriend <3]: **But you’re right, it does look a bit like a butt.

 **[You]:** (♡°▽°♡)

-

 

Before, Yuuri was shy and often flinched when Victor came too close too quickly. He would never be the first one to touch, and always waited for the other to come. Victor had invaded Yuuri’s personal space so often it was a wonder the man wasn’t terrified of Victor. He would hold back more, but it was difficult to keep his hands to himself when Yuuri was just _there_.

Steadily, Yuuri’s flinching had evolved to enduring Victor’s incessant touching. And now,  there were days that Yuuri hugged Victor closely almost without thinking, or when he took Victor by the hand or gave him a kiss. Those days Victor marvelled at his luck, and he was sure he would never get tired of Yuuri reaching out for him spontaneously. It made him feel a little silly, that warm and fuzzy feeling when Yuuri brushed away a lock of silver hair, his fingers lingering and just barely touching Victor’s skin. But then, Victor always felt a little silly when it came to Yuuri, and he never really minded.

Then there were days like this, when Yuuri was in his arms and snuggled closer and then suddenly looked at Victor timidly, as if it was all still too new, and as if Victor would disappear if Yuuri came too close. Then Victor blew raspberries on his lover’s skin until the raven’s frown disappeared and his smile was bright and unconcerned again. The movie played on, but Victor only saw glimpses of scenes in the reflection of Yuuri’s glasses.

-

“I had expected you to be different.”

“Different from what?”

“I just- you’re always so cheery.”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? I have got every reason to be cheery! I’ve got a stable job, a nice home, a cute dog, an adorable nephew. A _beautiful_ boyfriend. Everything is perfect, so why shouldn’t I be happy?”

“I only assumed that- ah, never mind. It’s silly.”

“Is it because I always look so cool and suave on camera? Because I can be cool and- Yuuri, stop laughing, I can! You haven’t even seen my killer dance moves yet, you’ll _swoon_. See? I call this move “Nikiforov Swag”- I said, stop laughing! You’re hurting my feelings!”

“Sorry, sorry! Tell you what, though.”

“What?”

“I’ll kiss it better?”

“Yes, please.”

-

As summer approached, little Yuri grew more energetic and restless, as if he was powered by the sun, rather than cornflakes and candy. Victor could only watch in delight at Yuri’s vibrancy. Yuri had been rowdy before,  but it had there were always long periods of silence or solemnness afterwards. For Victor, this brighter Yuri was a confirmation that he was doing things right.

Of course, this meant that his little nephew was stomping over and slamming into things more than ever. Victor couldn’t even paly game of monopoly with Yuuri before the cretin wiped his chubby arm over the table, tore the paper money in tiny pieces, and started throwing the metal tokens at Victors forehead.

(“Well you’ve got to admit,” Yuuri would later say, “it’s so big and shiny, really a tempting target.”)

-

It was a particularly bright summer day when Victor decided to bother Yuuri at work. Yutopia had been doing well, those months: the good weather and playground attracted a lot of customers, Victor had helped put up brightly painted arrows and garden gnomes pointing in the right direction so no one would get lost again, and Phichit and Victor had used their social media influence to promote an upcoming event at Yutopia to lure the curious. The event was little more than drinks being served and a couple of reading hours during the day for the kids, but a lot of people had indicated they would be interested in coming.

This perfectly justified Victor’s surprise visit. After all, who wouldn’t want a needy boyfriend to bother them at work when they had their hands full with serving drinks to parents and screaming children who apparently liked licking plastic animals. Oh, and selling books of course.

“It’s like I’m running a kindergarten, why don’t these parents look after their own children?”, Yuuri sighed as he pushed a pile of books into Victor’s hands. “Can you put these back in the shelves?  Some kids started pulling them out when I wasn’t looking.”

Yuuri looked exhausted , but Victor also noted the glint in his eyes, a tell-tale sign that Yuuri was enjoying the sort of work he was doing, even it was a bit too much at that time.

“Sure, no problem. Isn’t Phichit helping?”

“Phichit is managing the reading corner and has his hands more than full already. This leaves me to serve drinks, sell the books and make sure the kids don’t break anything.”

“I’m free to be at your service today!” Victor assured.

“That’s sweet, but you’re busy too. I can’t ask you to spend your weekends working as well.”

“There’s nothing I’d rather be doing.” This caused Yuuri to blush and mumble as he turned around to rescue his assaulted plastic figures.

Victor helped Yuuri for the remainder of that day, mostly managing the cash register and handing out candy as Yuuri ran about. As the day ran to a close, the high-pitched yelling dwindled and Yuuri joined Victor at the counter. As a tired sigh escaped his lips, his head fell on Victor’s shoulder and his eyes fell close.

“Where’s Yurio?”

“Probably chasing away the last kids. You know how he is.” Yuuri hummed in reply. Victor let himself get lost in the moment, breathing in Yuuri’s shampoo and the smell of brand new books, listening to the soft chatter outside and loud wailing -wait.

Yuuri was already up and heading outside  towards the crying child on the ground. She and her dad were the last ones but judging by the daughters chafed knee and the father’s angry face, they weren’t too happy about their visit. Victor almost asked what had happened, but then he saw Yurio scowling on the side with a stick in his hands and needed no further explanation.

“Yurio”, Victor said as Yuuri guided child and parent inside to take care of the injured knee. “Did you trip that little girl?”

“She started it” Yurio grumbled.

Victor hesitated for a moment, but then caved, “I’m sure she did.” Because who knows, maybe she did? Pink flowery dresses could be deceiving. Hell, _he_ had been bullied by an innocent-looking girl when he was little. Victor shivered. Curse that Agatha.

So Victor let Yuuri deal with the angry parent and crying girl until they finally left. Yuuri gave Victor a _look_ , and went back inside to get everything in order for the following Monday, leaving Victor and Yurio outside.

“I wanna go up.” Victor looked down at Yurio pulling at his trousers, pointing at the nearly finished treehouse. The ladder was pulled because Yuuri hadn’t wanted to test the structure yet on a busy day like that, especially not if the railing of the balcony wasn’t finished yet.

“I want up”, Yurio said again. Victor looked at the sign that said ages six and up only, at the tools that had been abandoned on the structure. But it was only a couple of feet high, he could do little harm, couldn’t he? So Victor Lifted Yurio up in the treehouse.

It was fine, Yurio just yelled and ran about a bit, and puffed his chest and hit it with his fist as if he was Tarzan. Then he noticed the hammer.  Being only four years old and it being quite a heavy hammer, there was no way the boy could lift it, so Victor wasn’t really concerned as started trying to drag the hammer around. That’s when Yurio’s tiny hands lost their grip and the blond fell backwards, off the half-finished balcony.

 Victor was not fast enough.

-

_It’s not that bad._

Victor ran inside, carrying Yurio in his arms.

_It wasn’t that high. He’s crying but it’s not that bad._

Yuuri had heard the crying and ran to meet them, rapidly switching into his a-kid-got-hurt-mode. Victor, eyes wide and heart racing, stuttered out how the boy had fallen from the three house, during which Yuuri carefully took the wailing boy from his arms end put him on the counter. After some concentrated inspection, Yuuri sighed.

“His knee only got chafed but you might want to go to the doctor’s to make sure his ankle isn’t sprained. He seems to be hurting there a lot”, he said without looking up to Victor. “I’m not an expert, after all.”

Victor let out a breath of relief and lifted his nephew into his arms again.

“But Victor,” Yuuri said, finally looking up at the older man, “why was Yurio in the three house in the first place? It’s still under construction, he shouldn’t have been able to get on there.”

Victor swallowed

“Victor-“

“He was begging me to get up there, I couldn’t just say no to him, he would have thrown a fit!”

“Oh, so this is _so_ much better?”

“Yuuri, please.”

“First the little girl, then the three house, he doesn’t know his boundaries! You’ve got set boundaries, Victor! It should never have gotten this far, he doesn’t even know what’s right or wrong anymore, not if you don’t tell him!”

“Don’t lecture me on how to raise my kid, Yuuri. You’re not his parent.”

“Well, _someone_ ’s gotta be.”

They stared at each other for a few moments, both equally shocked by the words that had come out of Yuuri’s mouth.

“I  didn’t-“ Yuuri started, but Victor had already stormed out of the door.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is a children's book by Judith Kerr suggested by a couple of my lovely lovely commenters <3\. Thank you all, it's perfect.
> 
> only part of this chapter was beta'd since I was too terrified and ashamed to contact my lovely beta again haha woops


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